Derby 0 Tottenham 3

Tottenham piled more misery on Premier League strugglers Derby with three second-half goals in what proved to be a comfortable 3-0 victory at Pride Park.

Captain Robbie Keane got the ball rolling midway through the second half, before late goals from Younes Kaboul and Dimitar Berbatov's penalty sealed a win that in honesty flattered Juande Ramos' side.

• Super-subs inspire Spurs

Derby had emerged from the half-time interval looking lively but fell behind in the 68th minute.

Steed Malbranque's right-foot shot was parried by Roy Carroll and the ball broke into the path of Keane, who simply stroked it home from six yards out for his 19th goal of the season.

Spurs took command and doubled their lead with nine minutes remaining.

Aaron Lennon's corner bounced in front of Pascal Chimbonda, who headed the ball sideways to Kaboul.

He beat a man inside the area before firing a low left-foot shot into the bottom corner from 15 yards out.

Spurs were awarded a penalty in injury-time when Alan Stubbs was adjudged to have handled Malbranque's cross.

Berbatov coolly stepped up and sent Carroll the wrong way from the spot and add gloss to only the second away win of the season for the north London club.

A full house generated a terrific atmosphere in an end-to-end opening at Pride Park.

It did not match the explosive opening of the reverse fixture at White Hart Lane in August, when Spurs ran riot to take a 3-0 lead inside the first 15 minutes, but it was entertaining all the same.

Derby will have been pleased to reach the mid-way point of the first-half unbreached after their harrowing experience in the capital six months ago, but they had Carroll to thank for that achievement.

Spurs twice came close to taking the lead in as many minutes early on.

A swift counter-attack down the right-hand side saw Keane release his strike partner Darren Bent.

His angled shot from the edge of the area was straight at Carroll, who gathered the ball at the second attempt.

Soon afterwards Keane found space on the opposite side of the penalty box.

His low, left-foot shot across goal looked destined for the bottom corner until Carroll got down to divert the ball just past the post with the slightest of touches with his fingertips.

Darren Moore was replaced by Andy Todd after 11 minutes, the big centre-back succumbing to the hamstring problem that had made him a doubt before kick-off.

Spurs made a substitution of their own three minutes later, with Michael Dawson limping off to be replaced by Kaboul.

Derby should have taken the lead in the 24th minute following a surging run by Pearson.

The Scot slipped the ball beyond the Spurs defence for Giles Barnes to latch on to, but he poked the ball wide from 12 yards out when one-on-one with Radek Cerny.

Spurs worked Carroll again just after the half-hour mark.

Lennon got to the byline and cut the ball back to the edge of the six-yard box, where Kaboul shot tamely at the Northern Ireland international.

Dean Leacock received a yellow card for a foul on Malbranque inside the centre circle four minutes before the break.

Ramos made his second substitution of the game at half-time, with Kevin-Prince Boateng making way for Jamie O'Hara.

Derby started the second half brightly. Kenny Miller's fierce right-foot shot was deflected wide in the 47th minute, before Cerny quickly got down to his right-hand side to smother a low effort by Craig Fagan soon after.

Spurs responded and Lennon slipped the ball to the overlapping Alan Hutton, but his shot from the right-hand side of the area did not trouble Carroll.

A minute later O'Hara's left-wing free-kick somehow found its way to Tom Huddlestone at the far post and his well-struck shot was palmed wide by Carroll.

Miller was booked for a foul on Hutton in the 58th-minute, the stop in play allowing Spurs to bring Berbatov on for Bent.

Ten minutes later and Spurs were ahead through Keane.

Neat interplay between Jenas and Berbatov almost produced a second goal for Spurs in the 74th minute.

The Bulgarian received the ball from Jenas with his back to goal on the edge of the box before putting the England midfielder, a goal scorer for his country against Switzerland in midweek, in the clear.

His angled shot was parried by Carroll and the Derby defence stood statuesque as Berbatov reacted to the rebound, but Carroll recovered to brilliantly palm his follow up wide.

Derby boss Paul Jewell made two substitutions in a bid to turn the game Derby's way.

Mile Sterjovski made his debut as a 74th-minute replacement for Robbie Savage, before David Jones came on for Marc Edworthy four minutes later.

But it was to no avail as Spurs put the game beyond their hosts with two late goals.





Super-subs inspire Spurs

Juande Ramos acknowledged the role his substitutes played in earning Tottenham a 3-0 Premier League win at Derby.

It was comfortable in the end for Spurs but it did not look like being that way until captain Robbie Keane put his side ahead midway through the second-half, just 10 minutes after Dimitar Berbatov's 58th-minute introduction.

The Bulgarian's arrival, coupled with Ramos' half-time switch that saw Jamie O'Hara replace Kevin-Prince Boateng, seemed to swing the game in the favour of the north Londoners.

It was another substitute, Younes Kaboul, that doubled Derby's misery with a fine finish in the 81st minute before Berbatov added gloss to the scoreline with an injury-time penalty after Alan Stubbs was adjudged to have handles Steed Malbranque's cross.

Ramos said: 'We have got lots of big games coming up in the next few weeks and the idea is not to rotate the squad, but to give some players a bit of rest, and it was Berbatov's turn.

'With the match still at 0-0 when I brought him on, the idea was to get the three points and he is capable of scoring important goals.

'Sure, he played his part in the team's magnificent effort in winning the game.'

As for O'Hara's contribution, Ramos added: 'I think it was a bit 'hurry-scurry' in the first half.

'We needed someone like Jamie to put his foot on the ball and slow the game down and get hold of the ball and pass it a little bit more.

'I think that brought a little bit more order to the game and I think he did that very well.

'Football games last for 90 minutes so I think you must look at the overall picture.

'I think that Derby worked so hard for the first hour that the effort they used started to tell in the last 30 minutes and that is where we were able to make use of it.'

It was only Tottenham's second league win away from White Hart Lane this season, and Ramos is at a loss to explain his side's poor away results.

'From what I have seen while I have been here, the team is certainly working as hard just as much as they are at home.

'The way we play the game is the same too, I can't see any difference between home and away.'

Derby manager Paul Jewell also hailed the influence of Berbatov.

Jewell was pleased with the way the game was going until Spurs took the lead, but was forced to admit that his side just could not compete with the strength in depth of Spurs.

'I think my team might have looked a lot better if I had been able to bring Berbatov on as well,' said Jewell. 'But we know all about him, he is a world class player.

'But their silky football was nowhere to be seen for an hour, and I don't mean that to be disrespectful to Tottenham.

'I think we competed very well, but they are better footballers than us. Technically they are better than us.

'For the first hour I think we had them rattled but once the first goal goes in they look like a different team - and so did we.

'They have a wealth of talent on the bench too. That is why we are bottom of the league, because we can't compete at the level Tottenham are at right now as far as looking for players is concerned and ability.

'But hopefully in a few years, with the help of the takeover, we will be able to because I believe this club is big enough.

'We might have to take a step backwards to go forward, but I believe we will be able to compete.'