FA Premiership/ Tottenham 4 Bolton 1: It would seem strange just now if a high-profile Premiership match went without refereeing controversy, and yesterday the most impressive of victories for Tottenham was overshadowed by the actions of Graham Poll.

Poll ensured that a first half which should have ended in celebration for the home side was shrouded in recrimination.

His decision to show Robbie Keane a red card in the 35th minute for allegedly handling Ivan Campo's goal-bound header left a bitter taste on an afternoon when Tottenham recorded their first home victory in the league since St Stephen's Day.

Keane, who had already netted his 10th and 11th goals of the season during a first-half blitz that put Spurs three goals up within 22 minutes, reluctantly left the field protesting wildly that the ball had struck his chest.

Television replays of controversial incidents have been banned at White Hart Lane since Cristiano Ronaldo earned Manchester United a contentious penalty this month so the crowd left none the wiser.

Poll was the recipient of their wrath and it was not until Aaron Lennon scored Tottenham's fourth goal deep into stoppage-time that their anger subsided.

"I thought it wasn't a penalty," said Martin Jol, the Spurs manager, who remonstrated with the fourth official long into the second half.

His Bolton counterpart, Sam Allardyce, defended Poll for awarding the spot-kick, which Gary Speed converted to add a sliver of respectability to a woeful display.

"It was a clear handball," Allardyce said. "Nobody likes to see anybody sent off for that but those are the rules. You can't blame Graham Poll because that's what they tell him to do."

Bolton came into this game 11 points clear of Tottenham and only two points adrift of the fourth Champions League place. But they were made to look abject.

Spurs, playing at this level, should banish all talk of using the Intertoto Cup as a route into Europe.

Whereas Allardyce saw the defeat as the final straw in Bolton's hopes of qualifying for Europe's elite competition - "I think we blew any chance of trying to catch Arsenal or Liverpool by not at least getting a point" - Jol believes that Tottenham's season is coming together at the right time.

"If we had lost, the gap would have been 14 points and I said if that happens the season would be grey and we would be anonymous. That was our motivation to get the result."

Spurs' superiority was evident from the outset. Their attacking endeavour was rewarded when Dimitar Berbatov shrugged off Abdoulaye Faye and Keane ghosted in behind the Bolton defence to drive past Jussi Jaaskelainen via a post.

Didier Zakora's hopeful punt upfield caused Faye to fall again under pressure from Berbatov and Keane collected the Bulgarian's lay-off. The Irishman's toe-poke deflected off Faye and Jaaskelainen could do little more than parry into Jermaine Jenas's path for the second.

Tottenham began to wreak havoc on the Premiership's fifth-tightest defence. When Pascal Chimbonda interchanged passes with Teemu Tainio on the right, his task of squaring for Keane to dink the ball past Jaaskelainen was made easier by Bolton's uncharacteristically dreadful marking.

"Defensively inept," was Allardyce's damning assessment. Faye was substituted after 24 minutes and it was unclear whether it was prompted by embarrassment or injury.

Speed's penalty was a mere consolation, even though nine minutes of the half remained, but Bolton spent long spells of the second period encamped in the Tottenham half and Paul Robinson was at full stretch to deny Nicolas Anelka's low drive.

However, at the other end Jaaskelainen had to produce a fine double save from Jenas and then Steed Malbranque, but Lennon guided Malbranque's cross past the Finn to complete the rout.

By that point all acclaim was reserved for the peerless Berbatov. Tottenham's £10.9 million signing from Bayer Leverkusen last summer looks money well spent. His control, movement, positional awareness and skill were a sight to behold.

"I told Berbatov that was the best performance from a striker on his own against any team I've seen," said Jol.

"He knows how much I love him as a player and he wants to play well for me and for the club. Berbatov can play for any team in Europe. He's a top-class player."

• Guardian Service