Hot Defoe finally gets Spurs moving

Reading 1 Tottenham Hotspur 3

A comfortable victory over a Reading side that hadn’t played a Premier League game for 25 days won’t banish all the doubts that have rapidly built up around the Portuguese manager but there was a sense at the Madejski Stadium that Tottenham’s season had at last begun.

An opening day defeat at Newcastle followed by home draws against Norwich and West Bromwich Albion had been sufficiently uninspiring to draw murmurings of discontent from some Spurs supporters already unconvinced by Villas-Boas’s abrupt, technocratic style.

Nor did it help his cause that Harry Redknapp, his popular predecessor, gave a weekend interview in which he criticised the methods of some modern coaches, claiming: “These days you are getting 70-page dossiers on this and that. Bullshit can baffle brains at times.” Redknapp didn’t refer to his successor by name, but he probably didn’t need to.

It was significant then that when Jermain Defoe scored his 74th-minute second, his side’s third, a chant bearing the manager’s name could finally be heard for the first time since he took charge at White Hart Lane. Villas-Boas responded with a cursory wave but inside, even the supremely self-confident young coach must have been relieved at the breakthrough.

Villas-Boas denied there was a rift between himself and Daniel Levy, his chairman, who is reportedly unimpressed by his manager’s handling of new signing Hugo Lloris, who was on the bench as back-up to keeper Brad Friedel. “I have no idea,” he said, “We talk every day and I didn’t feel under any pressure. Not at all.”

Utterly dominant, Tottenham had only Defoe’s opening goal to show for their efforts until Gareth Bale confirmed their superiority by scoring the nerve-settling second.

Both Defoe’s goals came from finishes that were the mark of a striker in form. He has now scored five goals for club and country this season and could easily have left the Madejski Stadium carrying the match ball.

The first came after Gylfi Sigurdsson had released Aaron Lennon beyond the home defence, allowing the winger to pick out Defoe with a low cutback.

The striker’s second was equally impressive, with Defoe dispossessing Kaspars Gorkss near halfway before advancing into the Reading area and beating keeper Alex McCarthy with a powerful left-foot finish.

Bale’s effort was less precise, a mishit with his right foot that hit his left foot from a Kyle Walker cross, while Reading’s late consolation from Hal Robson-Kanu was academic.

“Hopefully this can be the build-up for the future,” said Villas-Boas, who said full-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto will be out for four weeks with a knee injury. “It takes out the anxiety of winning for the first time. This is also something that sticks into the players’ minds and it gives us a good relaxed week. There is work ahead for the Lazio game [on Thursday in the Europa League] and hopefully we can build from this.”

Reading manager Brian McDermott had less to be optimistic about, although his side were undeniably rusty following the lengthy lay-off. This season was always going to be testing for the division’s newcomers and it does not help their cause that they are already a game in arrears.

The manager, though, insists the early league table will not impact his planning.

“I didn’t look at the league table last season and we were second bottom after six games,” he said.

READING (4-2-3-1): McCarthy 5; Gunter 5, Pearce 6, Gorkss 6, Harte 5; Karacan 5 (Le Fondre 46, 6), Leigertwood 6; McCleary 6, Guthrie 6 (Robson-Kanu 83, 6), McAnuff 6; Pogrebnyak 6 (Hunt 83, 6).

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (4-1-4-1): Friedel 6; Walker 6, Gallas 7, Vertonghen 7, Naughton 6; Sandro 6; Lennon 6 (Townsend 87, 6), Sigurdsson 7 (Huddlestone 72, 6), Dembele 7, Bale 7 (Dempsey 78, 6); Defoe 8.

Ref: Howard Webb.