Sunderland 1 Tottenham 2: Andre Villas-Boas hails ‘outstanding’ display

Andre Villas-Boas hailed an “outstanding” performance after Tottenham came from behind to beat Sunderland and move up to sixth in the table.

An error from Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris allowed Adam Johnson to smash home from eight yards to give the home side the lead in the 37th minute at the Stadium of Light.

But Paulinho tapped home from close range shortly after to equalise before half-time, and John O’Shea’s own goal in the 50th minute gave Spurs the three points.

The win left the north Londoners two points behind fourth-placed Manchester City, and Villas-Boas expressed his delight at seeing his side notch up back-to-back away wins.

“It was a great win, we were outstanding,” Villas-Boas said. “It could have been one of those situations where we were left to rue our missed chances but it wasn’t.

“We were unlucky to go one goal behind, the win is entirely deserved and it puts us back in a good position in the league.

“We had to work hard to achieve the win but it is a great week for Tottenham and a great fightback from the City defeat. We have had two away games and two wins.”

Meanwhile, Spurs defender Michael Dawson insisted that the manner of Tottenham’s response since their 6-0 thrashing at Manchester City last month underlines the unity in the squad.

“It was massive, we have had a big game at Fulham and a big game today and two big results,” said Dawson. “It shows the togetherness of this squad to come back from the disappointment at Man City.

“When you lose 6-0 it’s not good but we have shown a real character to come back.

“We got a lot of criticism that we don’t score enough goals but with the quality we have in the dressing room we will always score and we should have had more goals today.

“Nothing has changed in our belief since that defeat to City, we still believe we are going to have a good season, we still believe we can finish in the Champions League places.”