Tottenham rose above idle Chelsea to provisional third place in the English Premier League after accounting for Reading 3-1 on Tuesday.
Chelsea has two games in hand, but the standings still would have pleased Spurs coach Andre Villas-Boas, who was fired by Chelsea in March.
Reading hasn't won away from home all season, but hopes were boosted when Pavel Pogrebnyak headed in a rebound off the crossbar after only four minutes.
But the lead lasted only five more minutes, as Gylfi Sigurdsson's corner was headed in by Michael Dawson for his first league goal in almost two years.
Spurs took control, and only some fine saves by Reading goalkeeper Adam Federici delayed the home side from gaining the lead until six minutes into the new half, when a cross to the far post by the impressive Aaron Lennon was headed in by Emmanuel Adebayor.
Sigurdsson eventually left to a standing ovation and was replaced by Clint Dempsey, who ensured Tottenham's third straight win with a lob over Federici with about 10 minutes to go.
