A stunning Frederic Kanoute strike at Manchester City gave Tottenham a third league win on the trot. Kanoute arrowed a left-foot strike into the top corner from the left corner of the area for his third Premiership goal of the season.
City were made to pay for not turning their early dominance into a goal and Robbie Keane almost doubled Spurs' lead but saw a shot blocked on the line.
Keane also blazed high from close range late on as Spurs secured victory.
City had stormed out of the blocks and felt they should have had a penalty after just two minutes.
Striker Jonathan Macken latched onto Robbie Fowler's through ball and went down trying to get in a shot as he tussled with Spurs defender Ledley King.
The referee waved away the home side's appeals for the spot-kick but that did not stop City from laying siege on the Spurs defence.
City midfielder Joey Barton stung the hands of keeper Paul Robinson with a 20-yard shot as Spurs struggled to find any release to the pressure being applied on them.
But, despite their dominance, Kevin Keegan's side had nothing to show for their early superiority and were almost caught out with a sucker-punch.
Rohan Ricketts finished a mazy run with a shot across goal which a lunging Kanoute failed to get a touch to before it went agonisingly wide of the far post.
The intensity of City's play decreased as the half wore on and a resolute Spurs should have taken the lead when Pedro Mendes' lofted long ball played Keane in on goal.
But Keane was put off by the on-rushing keeper David James and sent his effort wide.
Antoine Sibierski headed wide as City again looked to threaten before the half-time whistle.
Both teams had been lacking the cutting edge in the final third of the pitch until Kanoute emphatically put that right with his sweetly struck strike which put Spurs ahead.
Fowler saw a well struck shot saved by Robinson before Keane had an angled shot cleared off the line by Sylvain Distin at the other end.
He then wasted a glorious opening after Michael Brown slid a cross into his path at the far post only for the Republic of Ireland international to blaze high from point-blank range.
City could not unlock a determined visitors' defence and even Nicolas Anelka's introduction did little to improve their potency as they went down to a second successive defeat.
