Keane double picks Tottenham off floor

West Bromwich Albion 2 Tottenham Hotspur 3

Robbie Keane scored the winner, his second goal of the game, to restore some pride to Tottenham Hotspur after their poor effort on Friday in losing at home to Manchester City, but inflicting the 23rd defeat of West Bromwich's doomed Premiership adventure hardly constituted a return of the glory, glory days.

Listening to Tottenham's manager Glenn Hoddle, though, it would have been easy to think it did. "Robbie is in great form for us at the moment and when you have got a player like that you have always got a chance," the former Spurs and England midfielder said. "He played some lovely football which at times was classic Tottenham and his goal right on the stroke of half-time gave us a big lift."

The giveaway was in that last comment. This was not convincing stuff from a side that harboured European ambitions facing one that already knew the Nationwide First Division awaited next season. It was a hard-earned victory that was secured with only five minutes remaining when Keane raced on to Ledley King's through-ball and swept home the winner.

But at least Spurs did battle hard. They needed to, even though Albion's familiar defensive frailties again let them down as they twice surrendered the lead on an entertaining afternoon at The Hawthorns.

Daniele Dichio rose above Dean Richards, who later succumbed to a recurrence of back trouble, to head Albion into the lead in the 25th minute before Keane's low shot, after a one-two with Sheringham, brought the visitors level at the break. Spurs responded quickly to the substitute Neil Clement's stunning 62nd-minute free-kick just after coming off the bench; Teddy Sheringham bundled home their second equaliser less than a minute later in a goalmouth scramble after Goran Bunjevcevic's shot had hit the cross-bar.

Keane had the last laugh on the fans who had been booing him because of his Wolves connection by scoring the winner, leaving Albion's manager, Gary Megson, to lament: "You can't accuse my players today of lacking in character – but that's what you get from a £7m player. Spurs had that little bit of quality."

West Bromwich Albion (5-3-2): Hoult 5; Gregan 5, Wallwork 4, Sigurdsson 4, Balis 4, Udeze 3 (Clement 6, 58); McInnes 5, Johnson 4, Koumas 5; Dichio 5, Roberts 6. Substitutes not used: Murphy (gk), Dobie, J Chambers, Lyttle.

Tottenham Hotspur (3-5-2): Keller 5; King 4, Gardner 4, Richards 4 (Perry, 84); Carr 5, Etherington 5, Bunjevcevic 5, Davies 6, Toda 4 (Poyet 5, h-t); Sheringham 6, Keane 7. Substitutes not used: Sullivan (gk), Iversen, Acimovic.

Referee: P Dowd (Staffordshire).