Goals from Clint Dempsey and Emmanuel Adebayor saw Tottenham Hotspur claim a 2-1 victory from their trip to Stoke City in the Premier League this afternoon.

Steven N'Zonzi put hosts Stoke in front early on, but Dempsey levelled up the score before the break.

Adebayor then scored the winner in the closing stages, but not before Charlie Adam had been red carded for Stoke following two bookable offences.

Sports Mole has looked back over the clash to determine if the result was a fair one.

Match statistics:

Stoke:
Shots 6
On target 3
Possession 46%
Corners 2
Fouls 11

Tottenham:
Shots 23
On target 15
Possession 54%
Corners 11
Fouls 5

Was the result fair?

A quick glance at the statistics above tells you everything that you need to know. Despite the fact that Stoke took an early lead, Spurs were the only side that wanted to win this game. They showed real ambition and for that reason alone they were worthy victors.

Stoke's performance

They scored within three minutes but then failed to build upon that. At times they were far too negative and once Adam had been sent off, they reverted to sticking nine men behind the ball. You can't afford to do that against teams with Tottenham's quality and they were made to pay late on.

Tottenham's performance

Apart from the defending for the Stoke goal, Spurs did very little wrong. They had plenty of the ball and carved out numerous opportunities. It's hard to break down a team when they put all their players behind the ball, but Spurs eventually managed to do so. It also kept their Champions League hopes alive.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Asmir Begovic: There may have been question marks over the Bosnian for the first Tottenham goal, but his performance kept the score down today. Had he not been at his very best, Spurs could have been heading back to London with four or five goals.

Biggest gaffe

Adam was harshly booked in the first half, but even so, when you're on a warning, you don't do anything silly. The Stoke midfielder ignored that,though, and two minutes after the restart he needlessly brought down Jan Vertonghen on the halfway line and was rightly given his marching orders.

Referee performance

Apart from the sending off of Adam, which he got right, Kevin Friend had very little to do this afternoon. He allowed the game to flow and only got his cards out of his pocket when it was necessary.

What next?

Stoke: The Potters end their campaign away at Southampton next weekend.

Tottenham: Spurs take their battle for a Champions League spot down to the wire when Sunderland visit White Hart Lane.