Tottenham 5-1 Sunderland

Tottenham 5-1 Sunderland:
Eriksen & Adebayor pile more
misery on Poyet's strugglers
The Danish playmaker was at the heart
of everything Spurs did going forward,
setting up the first two goals before
adding a third himself, while the Togo
striker scored twice

VIEW FROM WHITE HART LANE
By Greg Stobart
Tottenham’s performance here was one of a
team facing no pressure as they crushed
Sunderland on the day it emerged Tim
Sherwood will leave his job as manager in
the summer.
The club’s decision to change managers
once again is understandable given the
stuttering performances and results under
Sherwood, who was at his entertaining best
on the touchline.
Whoever comes in must build the side
around Christian Eriksen, the best player on
the pitch by a mile as he created the first two
goals before scoring the third himself.
And for all the criticism of Sherwood this
season, his faith in Tottenham’s youngsters
was rewarded in the display of Harry Kane,
who should expect to be more involved in the
squad from now on.
Sunderland, for their part, were pathetic after
taking the lead through Lee Cattermole. The
lack of organisation and fight were startling,
especially in the second half, and Gus
Poyet’s men looked doomed to relegation.
TOP OPTA STAT
Eriksen has been involved in as many
Premier League goals (12) as Arsenal’s
Mesut Ozil.
Tottenham piled more misery on relegation-
threatened Sunderland by coming from a
goal down to win 5-1 at White Hart Lane.
Spurs head coach Tim Sherwood was faced
with yet more questions about his future in
the build-up to Monday's game after it came
to light that he will be sacked at the end of
the season .
The 45-year-old insisted it was "business as
usual" ahead of the clash with bottom-of-
the-table Sunderland, and his players
responded with another fightback to secure a
victory that moved them above Manchester
United into sixth place in the Premier League
table.
The London club came back from 2-0 down
to beat Southampton in their last home
game, and gave away a soft opener at White
Hart Lane when Vlad Chiriches, returning
after just over two months out through injury,
gave the ball away and Lee Cattermole
scored his first Sunderland goal.
Fit-again striker Emmanuel Adebayor has
been a shining light under Sherwood and his
12th goal since the Englishman took over in
December drew his side level, before Harry
Kane marked his first Premier League start
for the club with a goal to put the hosts in
front.
The impressive Christian Eriksen set up the
first two goals and then added a stylish effort
of his own, before Adebayor's second of the
game and an injury-time strike from
substitute Gylfi Sigurdsson added gloss to
the scoreline and pushed Sunderland closer
to the Championship.
Sherwood said ahead of the game that he did
not expect talk of his future to affect his
players and they certainly looked up for the
battle in the opening stages.
Tottenham were knocking the ball around
with confidence, but they were almost behind
13 minutes in when stand-in Sunderland
skipper Wes Brown headed the recalled
Adam Johnson's inviting free kick just wide.
The home side failed to heed the warning,
though, and they gifted the visitors the lead
three minutes later.
Chiriches appeared to panic when Hugo
Lloris passed the ball out to him and the
defender's stray pass was picked up by
Cattermole , who caught the France
goalkeeper out with a measured right-foot
finish from around 30 yards out.
But Spurs were level when Eriksen's
dangerous cross struck Adebayor six yards
out and bounced in via the striker's hip and
forearm.
It was the visitors who had a spring in their
step early in the second half, with Johnson
pulling the strings, but Tottenham were in
front when Kane repaid the faith put in him by
Sherwood just before the hour, turning in
another fine Eriksen cross from six yards out.
Eriksen then capped a fine individual
performance in the 78th minute as he let fly
with a left-foot strike that deflected off Phil
Bardsley and flew into the far corner of the
net 12 minutes from time.
Kane and Adebayor then combined to add a
fourth goal with five minutes remaining, with
the Togo international on hand to turn the
ball in after his young strike partner had been
denied by Vito Mannone.
And Sigurdsson took advantage of some
poor Sunderland defending to finish off the
scoring from close range in time added on to
heap more misery on Poyet's troubled side.
The Black Cats are seven points from safety
and would not climb out of the relegation
zone even if they win their two games in
hand.