Tottenham condemned Coventry to their fifth defeat of the season but made amazingly hard work of seeing off the Sky Blues after two superb goals from £6 million Irishman Robbie Keane and Youssef Chippo threw Coventry an unlikely lifeline.
The home side ran riot in the first half but only had Steffen Iversen's seventh minute goal to show for their efforts.
Two goals in two minutes in the second half appeared to have put the game well beyond the visitors however as Chris Armstrong and Oyvind Leonhardsen put George Graham's side in complete control.
Coventry, thrashed 5-1 by Tranmere in the Worthington Cup in midweek, actually had the first effort on goal with Mustapha Hadji's low drive skidding just past Ian Walker's left-hand post. But from then on it was all oneway traffic. Iversen opened the scoring on seven minutes as he hammered home Mauricio Taricco's excellent deep cross that split the Coventry defence wide open.
There was no let up for Coventry and on 20 minutes Tim Sherwood volleyed just over after Leonhardsen's shot had been deflected off Muhamed Konjic.
David Burrows then gifted Leonhardsen possession 25 yards out allowing the Norwegian a clear run on goal. His first shot was superbly blocked by the Coventry goalkeeper, Magnus Hedman, and Armstrong and then Steffan Freund saw their followups blocked by some desperate Coventry defending.
The home side eventually got the second goal their superiority deserved in a frantic opening 10 minutes in the second half.
The goal when it came had a slice of luck about it, Armstrong getting in the way of Iversen's goalbound header from David Ginola's corner, but the Spurs striker was allowed time to get the ball under control and stab past Hedman for his first goal of the season.
Just two minutes later Spurs went further ahead and seemingly put the game well out of Coventry's reach. Iversen was again involved playing a delightful chip through to Leonhardsen who controlled on his chest before volleying past the advancing Hedman.
That should have been the end of the game as a competitive encounter but Spurs went to sleep and allowed the visitors back into the game after 54 minutes.
Keane appeared well-marshalled as he received Marc Edworthy's ball in the area but the Republic of Ireland international turned brilliantly to completely wrong foot Chris Perry before lofting the ball over Walker.
The Sky Blues reduced the deficit further on 74 minutes with a goal made entirely in Morocco. Chippo and Hadji exchanged a one-two on the edge of the area and although Walker raced from his line to save Chippo's first effort the midfielder kept his cool to slot in the rebound.
TOTTENHAM: Walker, Carr, Young, Perry, Taricco, Leonhardsen, Sherwood, Freund, Ginola (Dominguez 59), Armstrong (Nielsen 85), Iversen. Subs Not Used: Baardsen, Edinburgh, King. Booked: Armstrong. Goals: Iversen 7, Armstrong 50, Leonhardsen 51.
COVENTRY: Hedman, Edworthy, Shaw, Konjic, Burrows (P Hall 83), Chippo, Hadji, McAllister, Williams, Froggatt (M Hall 59), Keane. Subs Not Used: Nuzzo, Breen, Strachan. Booked: Hadji, Shaw, Konjic. Goals: Keane 54, Chippo 75.
Referee: A D'Urso (Billericay).
