The derby’s fiercely competitive nature could be seen from the off, and Spurs dealt the first blow just five minutes in as Timo Werner squared the ball for Brennan Johnson to instinctively tap it home.
Mohammed Kudus teed up an opportunity for Jarrod Bowen moments before the opener and saw a shot of his own deflected behind by Cristian Romero shortly after.
It was a less likely source that struck back for the Hammers in the 19th minute, as Kurt Zouma rose to meet Bowen’s corner delivery and knocked the ball in with his back.
Destiny Udogie made a timely intervention to deny Bowen a clean strike shortly after and Spurs soon started to see plenty of the ball.
They struggled to work Lukasz Fabianski again, though, with Johnson’s cross fizzing past Werner while James Ward-Prowse’s free-kick effort was palmed away by Guglielmo Vicario at the other end.
Both teams had to overcome pressure from corners before the break as Rodrigo Bentancur fired wide with the last kick of the half and there was also friction developing - especially between Lucas Paqueta and James Maddison.
The Hammers came out from the break strongly with Michail Antonio smashing a shot that Vicario dealt with before Paquetá curled his attempt wide.
Vladimir Coufal then rushed out to block a venomous Maddison strike, which was a sign of things to come as Spurs started to get on the ball again while the hosts defended their box well to overcome plenty of pressure.
Ward-Prowse still released Antonio for a glorious chance, but the striker hit a tame strike too close to Vicario before Ange Postecoglou’s side went back on the front foot with Johnson and Werner both having shots blocked.
After denying Tomas Soucek, Udogie had an opportunity to win it for the visitors but fired straight at Fabianski, as West Ham went a fourth consecutive league match winless but avoided back-to-back defeats.
They also added to a mixed bag for Spurs, who have a win, loss and draw from their last three matches.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Kurt Zouma (West Ham United)
