The North London chant may soon have to become “one-nil to the Tottenham”, rather than “one-nil to the Arsenal”. For this was the fourth consecutive home game Spurs have won by a single goal.

True, the score does not really tell the story of the match, in which Tottenham could have had several more goals while Albion came very close to scoring more than once. If Albion this season are doomed, not good enough at least statistically for the Premier League, they seem, especially on their past couple of performances, palpably too good for the Championship.

Last weekend they eradicated Sunderland 3-0 at the Hawthorns and yesterday, commendably, they never attempted to shut up shop. Albion played a good deal of bright intelligent football and frequently called into action Tottenham’s goalkeeper, Heurelho Gomes, athletic and reliable on the day.

At the other end, and notably late in the second half, his opposite number, Scott Carson, generally agile and effective, had a couple of lucky escapes. One came when Jermain Defoe, full of skill, pace and flair once he came on as a substitute after 64 minutes, arguably beat the offside trap and then Carson to score. Rob Styles, the referee, gave him offside, however.

The electric and elusive Aaron Lennon was then unfortunate with a left-footed shot that bounced back off the inside of the near post. Albion had put so much commitment and endeavour into the game that you could hardly begrudge them these escapes.

Tottenham’s team glitters with expensive talent and it was credit to Albion that they emphatically gave them a game. Luka Modric, the little Croatian, yesterday deployed on the left flank, is always a joy to watch with his supreme technique, physical courage and speed of thought and movement. Jermaine Jenas, in Tottenham’s powerful midfield, scored the winning goal in the 43rd minute. Receiving from the enterprising Vedran Corluka, Jenas struck the ball hard and true. It was a solid shot but, as it went past the slightly belated dive of Carson, you wondered whether the visiting keeper’s view had inadvertently been obscured by the referee.

Throughout the first half, Albion used their strong and incisive striker Marc-Antoine Fortune as chief weapon, frequently supported by the tireless Borja Valero. There were a number of occasions when Fortune seemed likely to score and he should have done better a few minutes from half-time when the ball reached him in space on the left but he shot wide of the goal. Early in the second half, Fortune’s low shot from the right was blocked by Gomes and a minute later, after a solo run, his drive struck Corluka and hit a post.

In another chance for Albion, Gomes repelled a fierce header by Jonas Olsson from Chris Brunt’s inswinging right-flank corner, while on 71 minutes, Defoe cleared a header from Shelton Martis off the line and Gomes clawed the ball away.

Albion’s manager, Tony Mowbray, was philosophical rather than resigned. “Recently, we’ve been very good and not got many rewards. I wouldn’t say we deserved to win but it was probably hard to lose,” he said. “You can feel Tottenham’s quality. I think their game knowledge is better than ours. We tried to make up for our lack of game knowledge with endeavour.

“We probably just fall short of the quality. We always lack a bit of experience. Earlier this season we couldn’t score enough goals. The last few months we’ve been shipping too many goals. You can’t quite get it right at both ends, because you haven’t got the quality.”

His opposite number, Harry Redknapp, said: “It was a tight old game and West Bromwich keep the ball very well. They have conceded a lot of goals but they pass the ball as well as any team you can see. He [Mowbray] has done fantastic on limited resources. I do like the way they play their football.”

Star man: Luca Modric (Tottenham)

Yellow card: Tottenham: Palacios

Referee: R Styles

Attendance: 35,836

TOTTENHAM: Gomes 7, Corluka 7, Woodgate 7, King 7, Assou-Ekotto 6, Lennon 7, Palacios 6, Jenas 7, Modric 7,Pavlyuchenko 6 (Defoe 64min), Keane 6.

WEST BROM: Carson 7, Zuiverloon 7, Martis 7, Olsson 7, Robinson 6 (Simpson 57min, 6), Koren 7, Valero 7 (Teixeira 76min), Greening 7, Brunt 7, Mulumbu 6 (Menseguez 67min), Fortune 6.