LONDON, Oct 16: First-half goals by Les Ferdinand and Christian Ziege and a beautiful last minute 30-metre lob by Gustavo Poyet gave Tottenham Hotspur a comfortable 3-1 home victory over Derby County Monday.

Ferdinand put Spurs ahead after 10 minutes and though Fabrizio Ravanelli equalised in a rare Derby attack in the 15th, Ziege restored Spurs’s lead in the 41st and Poyet sealed the win.

The victory, only their second at home in five league games this season, moves Spurs up one place to 12th on 11 points.

Derby, without a win at White Hart Lane since 1987, remain third-last on five points.

Tottenham looked sprightly from the off and thought they had gone ahead after eight minutes when Teddy Sheringham touched the ball in after Ferdinand’s shot was blocked by on-loan American goalkeeper Ian Feuer, only for the ref to blow for offside.

Two minutes later they were in the lead when Ferdinand touched in a great low left wing cross from Christian Ziege.

Spurs continued to press but Derby equalised in their first attack of the match as Ravanelli somehow squeezed a shot past Neil Sullivan.

After Poyet had clipped the bar with a header, Ziege restored Spurs lead four minutes before the break after a defence-splitting pass by Sheringham.

A great tackle by Youl Mawene denied Sheringham after an hour but even the giant Feuer was powerless to prevent Poyet’s perfect chip floating into the top corner in the dying seconds.

Todd, a former hero at Derby as a player in the 1970s, said: “The first half was very hectic and we just couldn’t cope with their runners.—Reuters