Spurs 2 Sheffied Utd 0 - Berbatov stars for Spurs

Tottenham announced their return to winning ways with a performance of such style and elegance to see off newly-promoted Sheffield United 2-0.

Bullied and beaten by battling Bolton on the opening day of the season, Spurs responded with a superlative showing which, in the first half especially, echoed the silky football regularly witnessed during the team's glory days in the 1960s.

First-half goals from Dimitar Berbatov and Jermaine Jenas proved to be enough to secure their first win of the new campaign as the Blades were given a harsh lesson in the realities of life in the Barclays Premiership.

It was a victory orchestrated by the outstanding talents of Robbie Keane and England winger Aaron Lennon as Neil Warnock's side succumbed to the full onslaught of a Spurs side in irresistible form.

The legendary Spurs boss Bill Nicholson built his all-conquering side on the foundations of an unbending defence, midfield subtlety and an attack which had guile, strength and pace.

It was a recipe which brought Tottenham success at home and abroad and there is much to suggest that current coach Martin Jol has the ingredients to deliver similar success in today's modern era.

United had promised to give Spurs more of the same tough-tackling treatment they had experienced at Bolton but their pretensions had been hampered by the loss of striker Rob Hulse, Derek Geary and unwell Paul Ifill.

The night began badly for United as Tottenham's #10.8 million Bulgarian striker Berbatov took just seven minutes to score on his home debut.

It was England winger Lennon who did all the damage by turning Chris Armstrong inside out on the right flank and delivering a low cross into the six-yard box for Berbatov to score from point-blank range.

In the 17th minute, Spurs added a well-worked second and it was Keane, enjoying the freedom of a deeper role, who started the move. He crossed for Berbatov to head the ball into the path of Jenas who coolly slipped the ball over Paddy Kenny.

Republic of Ireland international Keane was at the heart of their best moves as Spurs made light of the absence of England striker Jermain Defoe.

A bruised foot, collected at Bolton on Saturday, kept Defoe on the bench and Keane seized the opportunity to become the chief architect behind United's downfall.

In the 29th minute he was again the provider, somewhat fortuitously this time, when his attempted shot fell at the feet of Berbatov on the edge of the penalty area. The Bulgarian swivelled menacingly before unleashing a shot which brought a fine save from Kenny.

Jol had demanded a big response from his side after Saturday's debacle at the Reebok Stadium and Spurs had provided it with some irresistible football.

The pace of Lee Young-Pyo and Lennon on the right flank was proving to be an unstoppable combination and time and again United left-back Armstrong found himself having to face the frenetic artistry of the England winger.

Thankfully for United, Lennon's crossing failed to match his approach work and a succession of headed clearances helped the visitors to keep the scoreline somewhat respectable as the first half drew to a close.

Spurs continued to dominate proceedings in the second half - pinging the ball around the midfield with a swagger and confidence which underlined their domination.

In the 61st minute, Keane was guilty of missing an easy chance to increase their advantage. The Irishman sent his shot wide of Kenny's left-hand post after Lennon had once again eluded the United defence and pulled the ball back from the byline.

In the 82nd minute, Keane made way for Defoe and the Irishman was deservedly given a standing ovation by the home fans for a performance of sheer class and quality.

Two minutes later Defoe brought a fine save from Kenny with an 18-yard drive as the ball threatened to squeeze inside the post.

Defoe was clearly determined to get on the scoresheet and in the 87th minute he almost managed it with a rasping 25-yard drive which United goalkeeper Kenny was forced to palm away.

Tottenham coach Martin Jol hailed Aaron Lennon as one of the best young wingers England have produced in a decade after he inspired Spurs to victory over Sheffield United at White Hart Lane.

Lennon laid on the first goal after seven minutes for £10.8million signing Dimitar Berbatov to score on his home debut and tormented United's defence all evening.

The England winger's performance was mirrored by captain Robbie Keane who began the move which led to Tottenham's second from Jermaine Jenas after 17 minutes.

Sheffield United boss Neil Warnock labelled Lennon `unplayable' and Keane `outstanding' and a delighted Jol said: 'It's about control with Aaron because normally if you are a quick player you lack a bit of vision.

'But he shows me every day in training that he has vision as well as speed.

'He is one of the best wing players I have seen in the last 10 years. He is different. Aaron will improve and it is only a matter of experience with him, he is only 19.

'With Keane it is all about knowing when to drop off, it's about timing. You need players like him to get the ball.'

Jol was delighted with his team's overall performance after their disappointing 2-0 defeat by Bolton on Saturday.

He added: 'The final score doesn't reflect the game because we could have had three or four. That is the only thing we have to work on, to score more goals.

'I am more than pleased because it was a good performance. We didn't do well against Bolton and everybody wanted to do better. That is what we did.'

Jol was also happy with Berbatov's contribution after the player learned the harsh realities of life in English football against Bolton.

He added: 'English football is different and he realised that against Bolton. I think he showed his class. We gave him a lot of support. You can't ask for more than that.

'After a defeat like we had a Bolton maybe confidence was not 100% but they didn't show that. We wanted to play a high tempo and put them under pressure and that's what we did.'

United manager Neil Warnock admitted some of his players were in awe of Spurs and had no answer to Lennon or Keane.

Warnock, banned from the touchline, also confessed it was difficult to communicate with Stuart McCall in the dugout because of the noise in the stadium.

He said: 'We were in awe of them. One or two of our players let themselves down for 20 minutes.

'We had a difficult day because we lost three players before the game so we had to change a lot of things round.

'Our preparation was poor because it threw us out. I thought their quality shone through. Keane was outstanding as was Lennon in the early part of the game.

'At 2-0 a lot of people must have thought it was going to be double figures but I thought we responded well and it would have been nice to put them under pressure.

'I am quite pleased with the effort in view of the changes we had to make. We just were not good enough on the night.

'We are glad to be in the Premier League but we have got to stop worrying about teams and get amongst them.

'We gave them too much respect in the first 10 or 15 minutes. One or two players were looking around and not concentrating.

'But it was the quality of the opposition as well not just our mistakes. Lennon, in spurts, was unplayable.'

Warnock has now served his touchline ban and will be pleased to be back on the bench after failing to get his messages through to McCall against Spurs.

He added: 'Our technology is not the best. When you are doing these things you don't anticipate 30,000 crowds; nobody can hear you.

'It was just like an echo, I could hear Stuart talking but I couldn't hear what he was saying.'