Robbie Keane scored his 19th goal of the season as Tottenham claimed a 3-0 success over Derby at Pride Park.
Keane, Kaboul and Berbatov all on target for Tottenham
Robbie Keane scored his 19th goal of the season as Tottenham Hotspur claimed a 3-0 success over Derby County at Pride Park.
The first period was a disjointed affair and lacked quality, but Keane's second-half goal brought Spurs to life, with Younes Kaboul and Dimitar Berbatov sealing the points.
Juande Ramos' side broke the deadlock on 68 minutes when Steed Malbranque forced Roy Carroll to parry, leaving Keane with the simple task of tapping home from close range.
Kaboul then doubled the visitor's lead as he dropped a shoulder to fire home from inside the area, before Dimitar Berbatov finished coolly from the penalty spot after Alan Stubbs was penalised for a handball.
Decent
Spurs twice came close to taking the lead in the early stages, with Bent firing at Carroll and Keane forcing The Rams keeper into a decent low save.
Darren Moore was replaced by Andy Todd after 11 minutes, the big centre-back succumbing to the hamstring problem that had made him a doubt before kick-off.
Spurs made a substitution of their own three minutes later with Michael Dawson limping off to be replaced by Kaboul.
Derby should have taken the lead in the 24th minute following a surging run by Pearson.
The Scot slipped the ball beyond the Spurs defence for Giles Barnes to latch on to but he poked the ball wide from 12 yards out when one-on-one with Radek Cerny.
Spurs worked Carroll again just after the half-hour mark when Lennon's cutback fell to Kaboul, however his shot was tame.
Second half
Ramos made his second substitution of the game at half-time with Kevin-Prince Boateng making way for Jamie O'Hara.
Derby started the second half brightly. Kenny Miller's fierce right-foot shot was deflected wide in the 47th minute before Cerny quickly got down to his right-hand side to smother a low effort by Craig Fagan soon after.
Spurs responded and Lennon slipped the ball to the overlapping Alan Hutton but he thrashed his effort wide.
A minute later, O'Hara's left-wing free-kick somehow found its way to Tom Huddlestone at the far post, and his well-struck shot was palmed wide by Carroll.
Ramos then brought on Berbatov for Bent, and 10 minutes later Spurs were ahead through Keane as he pounced on Carroll's parry.
Neat interplay between Jenas and Berbatov almost produced a second goal for Spurs in the 74th minute.
In the clear
The Bulgarian received the ball from Jenas with his back to goal on the edge of the box before putting the England midfielder in the clear.
His angled shot was parried by Carroll and the Derby defence stood statuesque as Berbatov reacted to the rebound, but Carroll recovered to brilliantly palm his follow up wide.
Derby boss Paul Jewell made two substitutions in a bid to turn the game Derby's way.
Mile Sterjovski made his debut as a 74th-minute replacement for Robbie Savage, before David Jones came on for Marc Edworthy four minutes later.
But it was to no avail as Spurs were awarded a penalty in injury-time when Stubbs was adjudged to have handled Malbranque's cross, and Berbatov finished calmly to wrap up the points for the visitors.
| Derby County |
Team Statistics |
Tottenham Hotspur |
| 0 |
Goals |
3 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 2 |
Shots on Target |
10 |
| 4 |
Shots off Target |
6 |
| 4 |
Blocked Shots |
0 |
| 7 |
Corners |
9 |
| 16 |
Fouls |
10 |
| 5 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 4 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 63.6 |
Passing Success |
75.1 |
| 21 |
Tackles |
13 |
| 81 |
Tackles Success |
61.5 |
| 39.7 |
Possession |
60.3 |
| 50.6 |
Territorial Advantage |
49.4 |
|
