Spurs look stodgy as Maccarone runs amok

Tottenham Hotspur 0 Middlesbrough 3

There can rarely have been a more humbling afternoon in north London than Spurs were forced to endure yesterday. After watching their neighbours scatter another rival at Elland Road, Middlesbrough arrived to shoot down the balloon Spurs had hoped would carry them to at least the same planet as the one occupied by Arsenal. This morning, alas, the gap appears wider than ever.

For Middlesbrough, however, goals from their gifted, young Italian striker Massimo Maccarone and their two Cameroonians, Geremi and Joseph-Désiré Job, gave them their first win on the road this season but, more importantly, hoisted them to the heady heights of the Premiership's top three. Many more performances like this one and it will be a position the Teessiders will not surrender lightly.

The architect of most of their good work – and there was plenty – was their Croatian veteran Alen Boksic. The 32-year-old has spent most of this campaign in an unfamiliar role as substitute but was determined to make the most of the absence of Szilard Nemeth, the Slovakian striker out with a hamstring injury.

Ably supported by Maccarone, and backed up in the hole by Job, Boksic terrorised the Spurs defence with an overload of wit and craft. He infuriated his manager, Steve McClaren, with his failure to turn the ball back inside for Maccarone in the 16th minute, but his flick over the top for Job eight minutes later hinted at the gifts to come.

After Kasey Keller scooped up Boksic's weak left-foot shot in the 28th minute, it was the same player's fortuitous ricochet five minutes later off a Jonathan Greening cross that span in front of goal before finding Maccarone at the near post to bundle home the opener.

With the triple-pronged attack running riot, it was hard to see how Middlesbrough had only scored once on their travels before yesterday. Whatever, it was only a minute before they were threatening again, this time Boksic's cross being taken off Job's head by Keller. Maccarone should have doubled the advantage five minutes before the break, but Keller was equal to his right-foot shot.

Spurs, for their part, offered little and had only a Les Ferdinand header over the bar from a Jamie Redknapp corner and a Robbie Keane left-foot strike that fizzed past the post from a 45 minutes they would sooner forget. That soon became 90 minutes as, despite the introduction of Teddy Sheringham for Ferdinand at half-time, Middlesbrough moved into overdrive.

This time it was Maccarone in the driving seat as he twice capitalised on Spurs' desperate forays upfield and the gaps they left behind them. In the 55th minute, Steffen Iversen's header was caught by Mark Schwarzer and dispatched to Maccarone. He picked out Geremi with all the time and space he wanted on the right of the area to thread the ball past Keller. Then, three minutes later, another header by Iversen this time hit the post before being worked to Maccarone whose through ball put Job clear. The striker made no mistake in shooting past the helpless Keller.

With half an hour remaining, the match was effectively over as a contest, and although Keane almost headed in a consolation this was only after Geremi looked to have made it four when his free-kick crashed off the post.

Tottenham Hotspur 0 Middlesbrough 3
Maccarone 33, Geremi 55, Job 58

Half-time: 0-1 Attendance: 36,082