Blackburn Rovers - 1 Tottenham Hotspur - 2 Robbie Keane is not the kind of striker to do things in a discreet, understated way and the Republic of Ireland international produced a stunning goal to mark his first strike for Tottenham after his £7 million move from Leeds.
Jamie Redknapp may have snatched a fortunate victory with a flukey, mishit last-minute winner, but it was Keane's sixth-minute opener which brought the most satisfaction to manager Glenn Hoddle.
Keane, making his fifth starting appearance for the club, has struggled to produce the form which persuaded Hoddle to recruit him to boost his squad's ailing and ageing fire-power.
Any anxieties about the wisdom of the purchase were dispelled when he ran through a static Blackburn defence to send a vicious left foot drive into the roof of Brad Friedel's net.
Not that Hoddle would admit to having been concerned about his expensive acquisition's barren spell.
"Robbie scored a great goal but that's just what he can give us," said the manager. "Some strikers are able to manufacture goals while some score them. But Robbie can do both and he showed that with the quality of his goal today. You worry about strikers when they are not getting chances, but Robbie has had no shortage of chances and he'll go on from this."
Keane certainly did have chances and he missed a much easier one-on-one immediately after Redknapp's late winner for the visitors.
But the way Keane linked with the authoritative Teddy Sheringham bodes well for a Spurs season which had dipped after successive defeats by Manchester United and Middlesbrough.
This victory took Spurs level on points with third-placed Middlesbrough and offered evidence that this year's Tottenham are made of more resolute stuff than some of their more recent incarnations.
"The most important thing for us was to end that little spell of defeats and we worked hard for the three points," said Hoddle. "I just wanted us to stay in the pack today, and with the internationals coming up we will have a chance to get some of our injured players back.
"If we stay in this position and then get the strength-in-depth back into the squad who knows what we can do? The answer is that we don't know, but that's not a question that has been asked at Tottenham for about six or seven years because of all the injuries the club have had."
Not for the first time this season, Blackburn manager Graeme Souness was left counting the cost of a momentary lapse of concentration in the dying minutes.
He was also forced to contemplate the effects of a gruelling midweek trip to Sofia for Thursday's dramatic 3-3 draw with CSKA. Souness is a reluctant participant in Europe, preferring instead to restrict his ambitions to Premiership survival.
Blackburn looked jaded in mind and body and allowed Tottenham to establish an early bridgehead. "We suffered a reaction to the trip in midweek," said Souness. "It's no excuse, but we had to travel four hours back after Thursday night. We will see at the end of the season whether being in Europe has had a detrimental effect, but it is not a priority for us.
"I've always said Thursday night is a bad night for football but we are servants to the masters of UEFA."
Keane's opener summed up the first half as Tottenham's crisper passing and movement established a deserved advantage. Milenko Acimovic robbed a ponderous Tugay Kerimoglu in midfield but there was no sign of danger when Keane received the ball 40 yards out. The striker then set off on a mazy run past three defenders before producing a high-quality finish.
A half-time reorganisation by Souness then put Rovers in the driving seat, and Egil Ostenstad levelled with his first league goal for two years. The Norwegian collected David Dunn's flick and nipped in ahead of the advancing Kasey Keller to slot home after 59 minutes.
The longer the game wore on, the more likely a Blackburn winner appeared with Dunn, in particular, spurning a number of chances. That elusive second would not come, however, leaving Rovers vulnerable to the break. Redknapp duly nicked the win when he met Stefan Iversen's cross with a first-time effort that looped crazily over Friedel.
"It's the flukiest goal I've ever scored," said Redknapp.
BLACKBURN: Friedel; Taylor, Berg (Gillespie 45), Johansson, Neill,Thompson, Dunn (Grabbi 69), Tugay, Flitcroft, Duff, Cole (Ostenstad 45). Subs Not Used: Todd, Kelly. Booked: Berg. Goals: Ostenstad 59.
TOTTENHAM: Keller; Taricco (Perry 69), Bunjevcevic, Richards, Thatcher, Davies, Redknapp, Freund, Acimovic (Iversen 69), Sheringham, Keane.Subs Not Used: Ferdinand, Doherty, Hirschfeld. Goals: Keane 6, Redknapp 89.
Referee: A D'Urso (Essex).
