Spurs ease past Stoke

Tottenham eased their relegation worries with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Stoke City at White Hart Lane.

Impressive first-half display from Redknapp's men

Tottenham eased their relegation worries with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Stoke City at White Hart Lane. In an emphatic first-half display Spurs raced into a three-goal lead inside 25 minutes thanks to goals from Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe and Michael Dawson. Lennon opened the scoring in the eighth minute with a neat finish before Defoe blasted home a second with just 21 minutes on the clock. Dawson completed the first-half rout with a deft header in the 25th minute after good work from the impressive Luka Modric. Stoke clawed a goal back on 56 minutes when James Beattie beat debutant Carlo Cudicini with an angled shot from 12 yards.

Pulling Strings

The hosts were helped by Modric pulling the strings in central midfield, allowing Spurs to pick up their first three points since winning at West Ham at the start of December. Stoke had not won an away game in the top flight since 1984 and their hopes of ending that dismal run were effectively over in the space of 17 first-half minutes. Spurs had lost their three previous games against promoted teams this season but Lennon settled the nerves with his strike in the eighth minute, his second of the campaign. Defoe carried the ball forward, dragging Stoke's defence with him to the right before hooking the ball to Lennon on the left flank. Lennon raced into the area and buried his finish through the legs of Thomas Sorensen.

Threat

Stoke's threat came from set-pieces - the long throw of Rory Delap or the free-kicks of former Spurs midfielder Matthew Etherington, who set up Ryan Shawcross to head just over Cudicini's crossbar on the goalkeeper's debut. But Spurs' second goal came in the 21st minute following a slick move that sliced through the visitors. Vedran Corluka cut in from the right then the ball fizzed between Didier Zokora, Modric and Roman Pavlyuchenko, who played Defoe through to smash in at the near post. Spurs pulled clear in the 25th minute when Dawson headed in the third. Sorensen had tipped over David Bentley's free-kick but he could do nothing from the resulting corner when the ball was worked to Modric and his cross was thumped home. Defoe almost doubled his personal tally when he got on the end of a Lennon cross and had an effort cleared off the line by Andy Wilkinson, with Stoke left looking for any way back into the match. The one-sided scoreline did not lower the intensity - Bentley clattered into Etherington then Danny Higginbotham exacted revenge on the England winger. Both were booked by referee Mike Riley. Stoke boss Tony Pulis was signed as a player by Redknapp, who he described as a "lunatic" that he needed for his Bournemouth side in the 1980s So it would have been no surprise that his Stoke side did not surrender without a fight.

Substitutions

Pulis' response at the break was taking off Abdoulaye Faye and Wilkinson for Ibrahima Sonko and Andy Griffin. Ricardo Fuller then came on three minutes into the second half for Amdy Faye, his first appearance after returning from suspension for slapping team-mate Griffin. They grabbed a goal back in the 57th minute through Beattie - the seventh time in his career he has scored against Spurs and his first for the club since arriving from Sheffield United. Etherington floated a ball over Spurs' defence and Beattie crashed his finish into the bottom corner on the half-volley. "We're going to win 4-3," sang the visiting supporters, but it was not to be. Spurs' bench were furious with Riley when Shawcross appeared to haul down Lennon in the area as the winger chased a pass-back to Sorensen in his hunt for a fourth. Richard Cresswell, who had been booked by Riley for a foul on Benoit Assou-Ekotto, glanced a header wide with Stoke's final chance to set up a nervous finale. Tom Huddlestone and Fraizer Campbell were brought on in stoppage-time, for Lennon and Pavlyuchenko, as Spurs closed out their victory.

Tottenham Hotspur	Team Statistics	Stoke City
3	Goals	1
3	1st Half Goals	0
8	Shots on Target	3
7	Shots off Target	5
7	Blocked Shots	0
7	Corners	4
20	Fouls	22
2	Offsides	2
2	Yellow Cards	3
0	Red Cards	0
84.3	Passing Success	70.9
14	Tackles	23
78.6	Tackles Success	60.9
65	Possession	35
51.6	Territorial Advantage	48.4