Joy for Juninho as Boro go to town

Middlesbrough 5 Tottenham Hotspur 1

Middlesbrough feasted after a three-match goal famine yesterday as a devastating five-minute spell left 10-man Tottenham falling to their fourth defeat in seven games.

After Chris Perry was sent off midway through the opening period at the Riverside Stadium, goals from Malcolm Christie, Juninho, Szilard Nemeth and two from the second-half substitute Massimo Maccarone left Spurs shellshocked. Jamie Redknapp got a consolation for the Premiership's perennial underachievers but Glenn Hoddle's troubles at White Hart Lane appear to be deepening.

And the Spurs manager's explanations for his side's pallid performances have taken on a desperate air. "We were totally in control, set out our team to try and win the game and if anyone said we were going to lose 5-1, I would have laughed at them," he said. "The referee had a key moment in the way the result went. It was never a penalty."

Yet to some extent he was right. Spurs should have taken the lead early on. First Teddy Sheringham got on the end of a cross from Mauricio Taricco to hit a first-time shot inches wide and then the Spurs captain could only hit the side-netting when he was clear of Gareth Southgate.

Boro hit straight back. Juninho fired a warning shot when he rattled a 20-yard free-kick just wide of the post. Moments later Christie was there to tap in the rebound after Tottenham's goalkeeper Kasey Keller had done well to beat away a shot from Nemeth.

Middlesbrough increased their lead three minutes later. The unfortunate Keller got a hand to Juninho's penalty after Perry's foul on Nemeth but the Brazilian followed up to knock the ball in. Perry was given a straight red card by the referee Uriah Rennie, and Middlesbrough made it 3-0 after 28 minutes when Nemeth took advantage of some slack defending to find the corner.

Christie, who faces a hernia operation in the summer, was replaced at the break by Maccarone, who took only six minutes to make an impact and put Boro out of sight. He latched on to a pass from the impressive Nemeth to place a shot beyond Keller.

Tottenham pulled a goal back on the hour when the substitute Redknapp marked his return to first-team duty with a perfectly flighted free-kick beyond Schwarzer and into the top left-hand corner. But Spurs were helpless in the 75th minute when the Italian got his second after a neat through-ball from Juninho.

Middlesbrough 5
Christie 23, Juninho 26, Nemeth 28, Maccarone 51, 75

Tottenham Hotspur 1
Redknapp 60

Half-time: 3-0 Attendance: 30,230