Gus Poyet's spectacular last-minute chip confirmed Tottenham's return to
winning ways in the Barclaycard Premiership after two consecutive home defeats.
But they struggled in the second half to condemn a poor Derby side to their
fifth consecutive defeat which underlined new manager Colin Todd's huge task of
reviving the Rams following Jim Smith's departure from the helm.
It looked as though Derby would be swept away on a tidal wave of Tottenham
attacks in the opening 45 minutes and there looked a massive gulf of class
between the two sides even before Les Ferdinand opened the scoring.
It was a major surprise when Fabrizio Ravanelli pulled Derby back on terms
with his fifth goal in nine games, but after Christian Ziege struck a second for
Spurs just before the interval, Derby never raised a real gallop again until
Malcolm Christie appeared as a 70th-minute substitute.
Then Poyet finished them off, pouncing on a mistake by Youl Mawene and
delivering a 25-yard chip with such accuracy and dip that it defeated even the
reach of 6ft 8ins Ian Feuer, the on-loan American goalkeeper from Wimbledon
making his debut in place of injured Mart Poom and the axed Andy Oakes.
Tottenham's first-half bombardment had started well before the opening strike
by Ferdinand, who cracked home Ziege's tailor-made cross in the 10th minute.
Teddy Sheringham had screwed a shot wide of Feuer's left-hand post despite
having all the time he needed to size up the situation from the edge of the box
after controlling Poyet's pass in the third minute.
Then Ziege got in behind the Derby defence to meet Sheringham's clever clip
over the top, only to volley inches too high when he should have buried it.
And although Ferdinand beat the turf in frustration when ruled offside after
forcing Mauricio Taricco's cross past Feuer at the second attempt, the Tottenham
attacks kept coming and the veteran striker was on target again and this time
legitimately.
Ziege's drilled low ball from the left came when he picked up possession after
Ledley King's rocket-shot was blocked and the adventurous full-back seemed to be
involved in almost everything that Spurs launched forward.
Derby reeled under the bombardment but then, amazingly, struck back on the
quarter-hour mark when Deon Burton fed Ravanelli down the centre and the Italian
striker strongly held off the challenge of King to slide a low shot beyond Neil
Sullivan and just inside the post for his fifth goal in nine games.
The setback barely seemed to disturb Spurs though and they soon resumed their
avalanche of incisive attacks. It took a brave block by Feuer to deny Sheringham
before Poyet, instead of the ball, finished in the net when he dived head-long
at Ferdinand's knockdown from another Ziege cross.
Poyet was out of luck again when his header dropped on top of the crossbar
after Sheringham dug the ball out of a melee on the edge of the area to give
Ferdinand the opportunity to supply a splendid right-wing delivery.
And it was Sheringham, the bright ideas man at the hub of Spurs' onslaught who
cutely redirected a pass through a gaping hole on the right flank of Derby's
defence for the overlapping Ziege to finish clinically past the unprotected
Feuer five minutes before the break.
There seemed no reason at that point to believe anything other than that Spurs
would kill off the game without too much trouble in the second half, but
although they stayed on top they could not find another scoring touch until
Poyet's spectacular late effort and too many of their veterans looked tired well
before the finish.
It was surprising that boss Glenn Hoddle waited so long to introduce Sergei
Rebrov as an 86th-minute substitute for Ferdinand, giving the little Ukrainian
little time to show he has still got an important part to play at White Hart
Lane under the new manager.
Derby dug in deep to complete a damage limitation exercise and the lively
Christie, on for the willing but tiring Burton, almost made capital of a
defensive slip by Darren Anderton before Sullivan dived at his feet to save.
Teams
Tottenham: Sullivan, King, Richards, Perry, Ziege, Taricco,
Freund, Anderton, Poyet, Ferdinand (Rebrov 87), Sheringham.
Subs Not Used: Keller, Sherwood, Thatcher, Davies.
Goals: Ferdinand 10, Ziege 41, Poyet 90.
Derby: Feuer, Johnson, Higginbotham, Riggott, Mawene, Burley,
Murray (Kinkladze 62), Powell, Valakari, Burton (Christie 71),
Ravanelli.
Subs Not Used: Elliott, Boertien, Oakes.
Booked: Mawene, Ravanelli.
Goals: Ravanelli 15.
Att: 30,148
Ref: M Halsey (Welwyn Garden City).
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