Outplayed for much of the first half and trailing to Steve Howey’s opener, Spurs converted a trio of close-range headers to seal victory.

Chris Perry levelled with his opening goal of the campaign, the excellent Simon Davies put Spurs in front from Robbie Keane’s cross shortly after the break and Gus Poyet finished them off by converting Christian Ziege’s corner late on.

Ziege spoiled his own night by getting himself sent off five minutes from time and though Ali Benarbia pulled one back during stoppage time, City boss Kevin Keegan will be asking accusing questions of a defence who seemed to go missing every time Spurs launched a cross into their six-yard box.

City have continually flattered to deceive this season so the first half should have been no surprise to their long-suffering fans.

Striding forward with considerable confidence, Keegan’s men created enough chances to have won two games before the half hour mark had even been reached.

The onslaught started in the second minute when Eyal Berkovic, who was to turn into a constant menace for the visitors’ defence, latched onto Howey’s long ball after outpacing Ledley King.

Fortunately for Spurs, Kasey Keller was aware of the danger and raced out to pressurise the Israeli into lobbing over.

A Stephen Carr tackle prevented Danny Tiatto from causing severe damage as he sprinted onto a Berkovic through ball and then, when Marc Vivien-Foe flicked on a left-wing corner from the City danger man, both Shaun Goater and Nicolas Anelka wasted excellent scoring chances.

The home strikers both forced Keller into saves with their next opportunities, by which time Steffen Freund had been yellow-carded for trying to halt Berkovic’s influence with a vicious tackle from behind.

A second late challenge by the same man on the same player could have brought a red card – instead it brought City’s opener, although Keller will be disappointed that Howey’s relatively weak header was allowed to creep into the far corner from Kevin Horlock’s free-kick.

No doubt relieved that his team had turned their dominance into something more tangible, Keegan then watched in horror as City capitulated in all too predictable fashion.

At the time, only Carr looked even the remotest threat for Spurs but when Ziege saw his speculative shot deflected wide, the German trotted across and swung over a corner which exposed an alarming lack of defensive nous as Perry nodded home inside the six-yard box.

City almost suffered the ultimate sucker punch when Ziege’s curling effort was turned round by Peter Schmeichel at full stretch.

If Keegan was thankful that one disaster had been avoided, his side were met by another immediately after the re-start as Davies capped a fine performance by putting Spurs in front after Robbie Keane had created space close to the by-line.

The setback brought the worst out of Tiatto, who caught Darren Anderton with a late lunge, reviving memories of his wicked tackle on Blackburn’s David Thompson earlier in the season.

On that occasion, the tactic provided City with much-needed inspiration, even if it did bring Tiatto a red card. Tonight he escaped with a yellow and City’s response was equally lacking in severity.

It was not that the home side did not try, just that their increasing desperation in attack left them wide open to a counter at the other end.

Iversen should have profited from Ziege’s pinpoint left wing cross but drove his shot across goal and just out of Davies’ reach.

Then the German, named in the absence of knee injury victim Teddy Sheringham, might have got his name onto the scoresheet in a more bizarre manner when he charged down Schmeichel’s attempted clearance close to the touchline and watched as it arced dangerously towards the City goal before eventually bouncing just wide.

Berkovic’s threat was waning as Spurs’ grip on the contest increased but the Israeli still managed to strike a post when he met Ali Benarbia’s lay-off with a first-time shot.

Benarbia had failed to oust Horlock from the City line-up despite his impressive performance from the bench at Charlton last week.

The veteran Algerian had an impact again tonight but by the time he curled a stunning 20-yard effort over Keller, City were out of the game.

The clincher came from another substitute in Poyet, who had replaced the misfiring Iversen and ensured Hoddle’s decision turned into a correct one by stooping to meet Ziege’s corner and wrong-foot Schmeichel with a mis-timed header.

Ziege had proved to be an inspiration for the visitors, yet he left them with an uncomfortable last five minutes with an amazing act of folly.

Having already been booked for kicking the ball away by referee Jeff Winter, the German proceeded to repeat the stupidity and found himself taking an early bath.

It was the only thing Glenn Hoddle will have to moan about over his Christmas dinner.