Jan Vertonghen and Gylfi Sigurdsson scored their first Tottenham Hotspur goals as the Premier League outfit comfortably beat Carlisle United 3-0 in the Capital One Cup third round tonight.

Vertonghen, a £9m summer arrival from Ajax, was one of just three players maintained by Andre Villas-Boas from the side that defeated Queens Park Rangers on Sunday.

He ended 37 minutes of stubborn Carlisle resistance with a first-half header, before Andros Townsend made sure of the result with a wonderful solo effort in the second period.

The hosts started brightly, but Spurs were a constant threat on the counter attack and Iago Falque twice had shots well saved by Mark Gillespie.

Further efforts from Clint Dempsey and youngster Ryan Mason followed but Spurs could not find an opener until Vertonghen headed in Sigurdsson's flighted free kick.

Townsend doubled Spurs' advantage with a curling low shot after dribbling past two Carlisle defenders with a run from the halfway line.

Villas-Boas had the luxury of substituting Vertonghen and Dempsey, with an eye on this weekend's clash with Manchester United, and it was one of the replacements who set up Spurs' third.

Kyle Walker made an overlapping run from left-back before crossing for Sigurdsson to head in at the back post.