It was a day for creating records as Tottenham ran riot against rock bottom Sunderland, with skipper Teddy Sheringham scoring the 300th goal of his English club football career and Gus Poyet grabbing his 50th goal in English league football.

Substitute Gary Doherty and Simon Davies also got in on the act, but it was not all good news for Spurs as they lost striker Robbie Keane with a knee injury.

Poyet pounced on Darren Anderton's pass after 14 minutes to slot Spurs into the lead, but then Keane hobbled off with a twisted right knee seven minutes later.

That unsettled the home side and their defence were then caught napping after 25 minutes as Kevin Phillips ran on to Gavin McCann's cross to fire Sunderland level with his eighth goal of the season.

But Doherty, on for his Republic of Ireland team-mate Keane, rose unchallenged in first-half stoppage time to head home Anderton's corner and restore Tottenham's lead.

The points were made safe after 67 minutes as Simon Davies grabbed Spurs' third goal, rounding off a sweet move involving Anderton and Poyet with a cool finish, and Sheringham completed a day of milestones with Spurs' fourth after 83 minutes.

Just as the form book suggested, Spurs dominated the early stages as they set about piling more misery on relegation-threatened Sunderland and furthering their own UEFA Cup ambitions.

But it was Sunderland who should have taken the lead in the 13th minutes as they caught the home team napping.

Sean Thornton's cross from the right found Michael Proctor unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box, but the man who scored two own goals in last week's 3-1 home defeat by Charlton headed wide.

It was to prove a costly miss, as a minute later Poyet gave Spurs the lead. Anderton picked him out with a neat square pass inside the penalty area, and the Uruguayan slipped the ball past Thomas Sorensen.

By that time Keane had twisted his knee, and although he tried to carry on he was replaced after 21 minutes by Doherty - almost certainly ruling him out of his country's friendly international in Scotland on Wednesday.

Keane had only just returned to the side after missing last weekend's 1-1 draw at Chelsea with a swollen ankle, and after parting company with Les Ferdinand and Sergei Rebrov during the transfer window Spurs are hardly overloaded with strikers.

Sunderland forced three successive corners as they enjoyed a brief respite, and from the third of them skipper Phillips pounced to score the equaliser.

The ball was cleared to McCann on the right and as he crossed it the Spurs defence pushed up. But Phillips timed his run to perfection and as goalkeeper Kasey Keller hesitated, the striker, who was a target for Glenn Hoddle in the summer, had time to control the ball and fire it into the top corner.

Proctor had another great chance to score as Talal El Karkouri picked him out on the edge of the box with a neat pass, but this time he shot straight at Keller.

Goran Bunjevcevic was then denied his first goal for Spurs after 41 minutes by a brilliant save from Sorensen. After a corner on the right the ball dropped perfectly for the Yugoslav and he hammered in a shot from eight yards, but the goalkeeper dived to his left to somehow beat it away.

However, Sorensen was helpless to prevent Doherty restoring Tottenham's lead in stoppage time. Anderton swung over a corner from the left and the big striker was unchallenged as he rose to nod the ball inside the near post.

Doherty should have wrapped up the game for Spurs on the hour, but was guilty of a woeful miss. He beat the offside trap and had only Sorensen to beat, but hit a poor shot straight at the goalkeeper.

But the points were made safe after 67 minutes as Davies grabbed Tottenham's third goal, rounding off a sweet move with a cool finish.

Anderton's pass was flicked on by Poyet and the young Welshman cut in from the right and flicked the ball beyond Sorensen.

A day of milestones was completed as Anderton curled in a corner from the right and Sheringham rose unchallenged to nod the ball into the far corner and complete a good day at the office for Spurs.

Sunderland have now played at White Hart Lane five times in the Premiership and lost them all, and their top flight status is plunged into further doubt.

As for Spurs, they keep up their challenge for a place in Europe thanks to three important points.

Teams

Tottenham: Keller, Carr, Richards, King, Taricco, Davies, Anderton, Poyet (Etherington 74), Bunjevcevic (Freund 76), Sheringham, Keane (Doherty 21).

Subs Not Used: Sullivan, Acimovic.

Goals: Poyet 14, Doherty 45, Davies 67, Sheringham 84.

Sunderland: Sorensen, Wright, Thome (Piper 69), Craddock, El Karkouri, McCartney, McCann (Thirlwell 60), Thornton, Arca, Proctor (Flo 58), Phillips.

Subs Not Used: Macho, Babb.

Booked: McCann, Phillips.

Goals: Phillips 26.

Att: 36,075

Ref: R Styles (Hampshire).