WEST Ham striker Carlton Cole went from hero to villain in the space of a few early second-half minutes at Upton Park this afternoon.

After breaking the deadlock with a belter, he made a costly mistake soon after, giting Spurs striker Jermain Defoe an equaliser.

And Aaron Lennon went on to wrap up the points with a late winner for the Lilywhites.

In truth, defeat would have been hard on Tottenham, who were the better side before the break.

But West Ham gave as good as they got after the interval and it could have gone either way.

It means Tottenham have now won all three of their opening games.

Spurs started the better and forced a number of corners in the opening minutes, but they came to nothing and Robert Green was not troubled in the West Ham goal.

The home side had probably the first clear-cut chance, however. Cole was sent through by a long ball over the top, but the striker failed to keep his shot down from the edge of the area under pressure from two Tottenham defenders.

Scott Parker then tried his luck from all of 25 yards and Carlo Cudicini had to get down low to parry the swirling effort.

At the other end, Luka Modric was well wide with a speculative effort following a quickly taken free-kick.

Midway through the first half, Jonathan Spector threaded in Cole, but his little flick past the advancing Cudicini was too hard and the ball rolled away from him. He perhaps should have done better.

Tom Huddlestone had a crack for Spurs, forcing Green into his first real save, the home keeper comfortably holding the ball.

Tottenham almost broke the deadlock on the half-hour, Ledley King rising to meet a Modric cross. The defender's looping header left Green rooted to the spot, but the ball bounced off the bar.

Modric was then a foot wide with a shot from 12 yards, before forcing Green to save low as Spurs continued to enjoy most of the play.

The Hammers were still looking dangerous on the break, however, and a superb block from King thwarted Jack Collison who had been teed up by Cole with ten minutes of the half remaining.

And West Ham should have scored on the stroke of half-time. Junior Stanislas got to the byline and rolled the ball invitingly across the six-yard box, but Cole, who just needed to get a touch to the ball, failed to connect.

If Cole could be criticised for letting that chance get away, he certainly made amends four minutes into the second half. With seemingly nothing on, and with his back to goal, the striker teed the ball up for himself and hit an unstoppable half-volley from the edge of the box that flew into the roof of the net. It was a moment of pure quality.

But Cole then turned villain when he played the ball into the path of Jermain Defoe at the other end and the ex-Hammer gleefully smacked the ball past Green for the equaliser.

It was a crazy few minutes for the popular Hammer and highlighted the ups and downs of professional football.

Spurs, now lifted by their gift, almost went in front on 58 minutes, Modric steering a back-post header just wide.

The home fans felt they should have had a penalty soon after, when Luis Jimenez was seemingly tripped by Benoit Assou-Ekotto, but the referee waved away the appeals.

Jimenez also saw a header kicked of the line by Modric as the game now swung from end to end.

Cole, still in the thick of the action, was just wide with a drive on 72 minutes.

But it was Spurs who struck, Aaron Lennon finding the far corner with a super drive with ten minutes to go after Spector had slipped in trying to see off the winger.

Green had to save from Modric to keep the hosts in it, while Jack Collison almost found a way through, but he was always stretching and Cudicini was able to gather as he raced out to meet the youngster.