In front of England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, Defoe smashed home the first after eight minutes from Fredi Kanoute’s cutback and tucked in the second just before the half-hour.

Kanoute was in on the action himself a minute before the interval and after Peter Crouch pulled one back with a soft header, Defoe pounced to complete his hat-trick after 65 minutes and he then turned provider for Robbie Keane to poke home the fifth.

The victory not only propelled Tottenham into the top half of the table but marked their best run of league form since 1995, a remarkable turnaround given it was less than a month ago that Spurs suffered their sixth straight league defeat.

While Martin Jol has worked wonders to bring some festive cheer to White Hart Lane, Harry Redknapp faces a bleak midwinter with Southampton.

His new side remain bogged down in the relegation zone and never even threatened a first away win of the season. The Saints’ defence came to north London bearing gifts that Spurs were all too happy to accept.

Darren Kenton, a shaky presence in the heart of Southampton’s defence, was the chief culprit.

After only eight minutes he misjudged Michael Carrick’s long clearance down the line, allowing Kanoute to surge into the box. The Mali international picked out Defoe with a delayed cutback and the England man rifled Tottenham ahead.

Defoe, recalled after missing the victory over Manchester City through suspension, pounced on a defensive slip and his cutback forced Kenton to slide in and concede the corner. He was not far off slotting it inside his own near post.

The corner delivery, for the second time in the early exchanges, was poor but Tottenham continued to press forward.

Carrick, with calm poise, worked his way clear on the edge of the Saints’ box but could only poke his 20-yard effort harmlessly straight at Antti Niemi.

Michael Brown then lifted the ball through to Defoe who twisted and turned in the Southampton box.

Kenton ended up on his backside but the England striker was denied by a magnificent point-blank save from Niemi.

The Southampton supporters barely had the chance to breathe a sigh of relief before Defoe reacted quickest to turn Paul Telfer’s challenge on Kanoute into the perfect through-ball and placed his shot inside the far post.

A diving save from Niemi kept Kanoute’s curling effort out and then Rohan Ricketts headed over the crossbar from six yards from Thimothee Atouba’s raking cross.

But less than a minute later, on the brink of half-time, Kanoute burst onto Carrick’s pass over the top.

While the Southampton defence looked for a flag, Kanoute tucked the ball inside the near post.

Southampton emerged from the interval to strains of “We’re gonna win 4-3” from the away supporters’ corner, and within two minutes of the restart the fans’ cries were answered.

Ledley King attempted to hook the ball clear but it flew straight up in the air. Crouch, the tallest player in the Premiership, held off Anthony Gardner to nod the ball past Paul Robinson, who was hovering in no-man’s land.

But it was a mere blip. Carrick was controlling the midfield and Spurs recovered from their wobble.

When Kenton allowed Brown to bring the ball down on the edge of Southampton’s area, a fourth goal was almost inevitable. Niemi blocked Brown’s drive, but Defoe popped up to slot home the rebound for his 14th strike of the season.

Robinson then denied Kevin Phillips at full stretch as Tottenham began to toy with Southampton.

The away supporters were streaming out, Redknapp paced in the technical area shaking his head.

And they sliced Southampton open once again, with Keane latching onto Defoe’s chip to round off the afternoon.