Gareth Bale's double and one each from Roman Pavlyuchenko and Peter Crouch saw off Blackburn.
Russian misses from spot as Rovers provide late scare
A brace from Gareth Bale and goals from Roman Pavlyuchenko and Peter Crouch saw off a spirited Blackburn Rovers side in a thrilling 4-2 win for Tottenham.
The Welshman continued his fine goalscoring form with a near-post header from a Rafael van der Vaart cross in the 16th minute.
Pavlyuchenko then completely missed the target from the penalty spot after referee Andre Marriner ruled that Christopher Samba had brought down Jermaine Jenas in the box.
However the Russian atoned for his earlier spot-kick with a bullet header from a Bale cross.
Crouch made it three in the second-half after Gael Givet failed to clear after Paul Robinson had parried Pavlyuchenko's strike. Bale added to his tally with a close range volley.
Tottenham suffered two late scares when Ryan Nelsen turned in a David Dunn strike and Givet netted in the dying minutes, however the home side held on in a classy display.
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has made two changes for the visit of Blackburn as Jenas was drafted in for Tom Huddlestone and Crouch partnered Pavlyuchenko upfront.
Rovers boss Sam Allardyce opted for the same squad that defeated Newcastle United in midweek with El-Hadji Diouf being fit enough following a groin problem to sit on the bench.
Dominated
The home side dominated the early stages of the game and took the lead with their first real chance of the game when van der Vaart whipped in a corner just after the quarter hour mark.
In-form winger Bale lost his marker to head home at the near-post and sent the White Hart Lane faithful into a frenzy as former Spurs 'keeper Robinson had little chance of saving.
Blackburn responded in the 22nd minute when Brett Emerton curled in a decent shot but saw it tipped past the post expertly by Heurelho Gomes.
Tottenham were denied a penalty in the 24th minute when Luka Modric was upended in the box with the midfielder instead getting a yellow card for an apparent dive.
Spurs should have then increased their lead when Phil Jones' weak back-pass was pounced on by Pavlyuchenko however the Russian hesitated and smashed his effort over the bar with Robinson covering his angles well.
Spurs were awarded a penalty in the 31st minute when firstly Samba brought down Jenas who jinked his way into the box and shortly afterwards Robinson was adjudged to have brought down Crouch.
However Pavlyuchenko's afternoon seemingly got worse when he sent his spot-kick well wide of Robinson's right-hand post.
Blackburn made a tactical change in the 35th minute as Allardyce opted for the firepower of El-Hadji Diouf over his chosen right-back Michel Salgado in a bid to level up the tie.
Gomes was called into action and pulled off a smart double save in the 38th minute to deny Nikola Kalinic and then Emerton, before Pavlyuchenko forced Robinson into another good save.
The striker finally got on to the scoresheet in the 41st minute when a typical surging run from the impressive Bale saw the Welshman carve open a yard of space for the cross which was met perfectly by an unmarked Pavlyuchenko.
With Blackburn going into the interval 2-0 down with a classy Spurs side looking a constant threat, Allardyce took off Kalinic in favour of powerhouse Jason Roberts at half-time however Tottenham continued to dominate the game.
Foiled
Rovers had the lion share of the possession early in the second-half and looked threatening upfront with Roberts causing Younes Kaboul and William Gallas a few problems.
Robinson then foiled Modric when the Spurs midfielder tried his luck from the edge of the penalty area.
Spurs had Gallas to thank in the 61st minute when he cleared a shot from Morten Gamst Pedersen off the line which was his final act of the game as the Blackburn midfielder came off for David Dunn.
Gomes saved Spurs again in the 66th minute when he produced a fine stop to deny Diouf.
But Spurs soon made it 3-0 two minutes later when Robinson initially parried Pavlyuchenko's shot however Givet dithered on the ball and Crouch seized the chance to slot the ball home.
Bale grabbed his second of the game in the 76th minute when he netted a drilled effort from a cross by Alan Hutton and good work from van der Vaart to bring the ball down in the box.
Blackburn substitute Dunn fired a 79th-minute strike towards goal which New Zealander Nelsen got a foot to for Rovers to pull back a consolation.
Spurs defender Kaboul then cleared off the line when Diouf's shot had beaten Gomes in the 83rd minute, before Givet got Blackburn's second with a drive from range in the 89th minute.
But despite the late scare, Spurs held on for the three points in what was their first win in four games in the Premier League - their longest run since January 2009.
| Tottenham Hotspur |
Team Statistics |
Blackburn Rovers |
| 4 |
Goals |
2 |
| 2 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 7 |
Shots on Target |
8 |
| 10 |
Shots off Target |
3 |
| 5 |
Blocked Shots |
4 |
| 12 |
Corners |
6 |
| 13 |
Fouls |
14 |
| 1 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 80.4 |
Passing Success |
70.5 |
| 13 |
Tackles |
27 |
| 76.9 |
Tackles Success |
63 |
| 57.1 |
Possession |
42.9 |
| 49.4 |
Territorial Advantage |
50.6 |
|
