Jose Dominguez stepped off the substitutes' bench to set up Tim Sherwood with
the goal that saved Tottenham a point but George Graham's cup specialists were
still left seeking their first Premiership win this year.
Sherwood's strike - his second goal in four starts since a £4million move from
Blackburn - cancelled out Deon Burton's opener which arrived less than two
minutes after the interval.
But Spurs could not build on the equaliser and in a frantic last few minutes
had Justin Edinburgh sent off for a second bookable offence - a sliding tackle
which left Francesco Baiano writhing in agony.
Then, deep in stoppage time, referee Jeff Winter infuriated the Tottenham fans
when allowing Derby striker Paulo Wanchope to stay on the pitch despite a
similar foul, having already booked him ten minutes earlier.
Spurs, through to the final of the Worthington Cup and in the last eight of
the FA Cup, have managed only three League wins since Graham arrived in
October.
This should certainly have been the fourth and they could have had it wrapped
up well before the interval.
Derby's Stefano Eranio was carried off on a stretcher five minutes before
half-time after a shuddering clash of heads with Edinburgh who was booked soon
afterwards for fouling Burton but it was the only knockout blow Spurs managed to
deliver despite their dominance of the first period.
Boss Graham had left his seat in the stand to bellow instructions from the
dug-out before the half-hour mark had elapsed.
And the reason for his frustration was only too clear as strikers Chris
Armstrong and Steffen Iversen passed up a stream of scoring opportunities.
It looked easier to score than to miss when Iversen's flick put Armstrong
through in only the sixth minute but former Crystal Palace marksman, who has not
netted since a glorious hat-trick against Everton in December, fired wastefully
across goal and well beyond the far post.
Spurs midfield enforcer Steffen Freund drove hopelessly over the bar with
another tempting opportunity from just outside the box and Iversen was off
target when another opening materialised.
Then Horacio Carbonari headed off the line after Ramon Vega had moved up from
the back to launch a towering header from Darren Anderton's free-kick.
Derby took 25 minutes to raise a goalscoring threat - Wanchope shooting past
the near-post when Baiano played him in - and an hour to force a corner.
But by then they had gone ahead with Burton's poaching strike which left Sol
Campbell and Vega questioning each other about who should have picked up the
Jamaican international when Dorigo's free-kick was flicked on by the elastic
Wanchope.
Stefan Schnoor's attempt to clear Ginola's left-wing cross almost brought
Spurs an instant equaliser but Hoult performed wonders to prevent an own goal,
stretching out a leg to scramble the ball away as Armstrong moved in for the
kill.
And it looked as though Spurs were going to be strangled by their own lethargy
until Dominguez provided the touch of inspiration which Sherwood finished off in
such splendid style.
The little Portuguese winger, dumped on the transfer list last month by Graham
having played only a minor part in the Scot's White Hart Lane revolution, made a
decisive contribution within three minutes of his 65th-minute arrival as sub for
the ineffective Armstrong.
A shimmy took him past two defenders and a perfect through-ball sent Sherwood
into the box for a superb finish with his sweeping right-foot shot.
After that it was a non-stop litany of Tottenham pressure, but Derby
goalkeeper Hoult stood up firm and strong to resist a fierce barrage and had the
luck he deserved when pushing Anderton's 25-yard thunderbolt against the bar and
seeing substitute Spencer Prior scramble away Sherwood's follow-up attempt.
Teams
Tottenham: Walker, Taricco, Vega, Campbell, Edinburgh, Anderton,
Freund, Sherwood, Ginola, Iversen, Armstrong (Dominguez 66).
Subs Not Used: Baardsen, Nielsen, Sinton, Young.
Sent Off: Edinburgh (90).
Booked: Edinburgh, Freund.
Goals: Sherwood 69.
Derby: Hoult, Laursen, Carbonari, Schnoor, Dorigo (Harper 73),
Eranio (Prior 40), Carsley, Bohinen, Baiano (Hunt 73), Burton, Wanchope.
Subs Not Used: Knight, Sturridge.
Booked: Carsley, Wanchope, Burton.
Goals: Burton 46.
Att: 35,392.
Ref: J Winter (Stockton-on-Tees).
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