Tottenham 3 Charlton 1

CHARLTON were haunted by former striker Jermain Defoe who struck a goal in each half for Tottenham at White Hart Lane in the Premiership on Sunday.

Defoe, who controversially left Charlton in favour of West Ham as a youngster, was on target after 13 minutes and again inside a minute of the second half to end the Addicks’ run of three league games without a defeat.

The last time Charlton lost at Spurs was in March 1990, when Gary Lineker was among the scorers in a 3-0 defeat.

Charlton have recorded three victories and three draws since then but, by the end of a one-sided first half, the chances of that record continuing were all but over.

Charlton boss Alan Curbishley made one change to his starting line-up, with Radostin Kishishev coming into the midfield in place of Matt Holland who was ruled out with a thigh injury.

But it was the home side that made the brighter start and forced successive corners in the second minute, before Defoe chipped an effort over the bar.

Defoe, starting his first game since December 28, then broke the deadlock after 13 minutes. The England striker turned Jonathan Fortune inside out before striking a shot which deflected off former Spurs defender Luke Young and flew past Addicks ‘keeper Thomas Myhre.

Charlton could have found themselves reduced to 10 men on the half-hour mark when Bryan Hughes brought down Paul Stalteri as he raced through on goal.

However, referee Phil Dowd adjudged that Hughes was not the last defender and only showed a yellow card.

The visitors continued to find themselves under pressure and Myhre prevented his side from conceding a second when he reacted well to gather the ball as Aaron Lennon raced through on goal.

But the Addicks ‘keeper was powerless to do anything about Spurs’ second strike five minutes before the break.

A Robbie Keane throughball left Jermaine Jenas one-on-one with Chris Powell who hesitated and allowed the England midfielder to drive low past Myhre.

Charlton offered little in attack with their only real threat coming from new signing Marcus Bent.

Twice he won free-kicks on the edge of the box – after running at the Tottenham defence – but on both occasions nothing came from the ensuing set piece.

Bent then almost brought his side back into the game in first-half stoppage time with a powerful shot that cannoned back off the bar.

But whatever Charlton had in mind for a second-half game plan was ruined 46 seconds after the restart when Tottenham killed them off with a third goal.

Defoe ran straight through the heart of the Charlton defence, latched onto Tom Huddlestone’s throughball and buried the ball into the back of the net.

Hreidarsson drove a long- range shot straight into arms of Robinson before he was called into action at the other end when he cleared a Keane shot off the line on 64 minutes. A minute later Myhre saved well from Defoe.

Jerome Thomas gave the visitors some hope in the 70th minute when he cut in from the left past Stalteri and fired low into the net at the near post.

Curbishley threw on Jay Bothroyd for the final 15 minutes in an attempt to find a way back into the match but, despite Hreidarsson forcing Robinson into a good save, the visitors had left themselves with too much to do.