Tottenham punished nine-man Liverpool's indiscipline on Sunday with a rampant attacking display producing a 4-0 victory and condemning the visitors to a second successive Premier League loss.
Emmanuel Adebayor, the former Arsenal striker on loan from Manchester City, scored twice on his home debut to quickly win over the White Hart Lane support.
''I know the fans all love me because that's what they're looking for, a player who can score goals,'' said Adebayor, who also scored on his full debut in last weekend's win at Wolverhampton Wanderers. ''I'm very happy that everything is going well for me at this club.''
Luka Modric set the tone for a ruthless Tottenham performance in the seventh minute by curling in a stunning opening goal off the crossbar, while Jermain Defoe scored the second in the 66th minute after Liverpool had its players sent off.
A sluggish Liverpool side was already struggling when Charlie Adam was dismissed after a rash challenge on Scott Parker in the 28th, while Martin Skrtel saw red in the 63rd after being penalized again for fouling Gareth Bale.
But Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish defended both Adam and Skrtel after his worst loss since returning to manage Liverpool in January after a 20-year absence.
Asked if Liverpool had a discipline problem on Sunday, Dalglish responded: ''Are you winding me up? Why would they have a problem with discipline?''
''We have a very good record for discipline,'' he insisted.
Liverpool provided little threat against a Tottenham side that maintained a high tempo throughout to clinch a second victory in a row after starting the season with back-to-back losses.
''I think how we started the game we would have lost anyway, irrespective of what else happened,'' Dalglish said. ''The boys are upset and so they should be.''
The speed of Tottenham's early forays forward unnerved Liverpool, which survived Adebayor's second-minute miss but fell behind five minutes later.
A cross from Bale from the left reached Defoe on the edge of the penalty area. Although the forward was tackled by Jose Enrique, the loose ball fell to Modric and the Croatia playmaker curled the ball into the net off the crossbar.
It was Modric's first goal since his ultimately futile push to join Chelsea in the summer transfer window.
''That's why we were offered 40 million (pounds; $63 million) for him because he's a top player,'' Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp said. ''Luka's fine now, hopefully the chairman (Daniel Levy) will sit down with him and discuss his contract and do something with him.''
Liverpool only found the net after 18 minutes, but Luis Suarez was ruled to have been offside.
Liverpool's problems mounted before the 30-minute mark when the injured Daniel Agger was forced off with a rib injury and was replaced by Sebastian Coates.
And almost from the restart, Liverpool lost another player when Adam was shown a second yellow card after landing his studs on Parker's leg, having already been booked for a foul on Modric.
Skrtel's struggles in keeping up with Bale resulted in a yellow card in the 36th for a challenge on the Wales winger. Coates was also booked for halting Adebayor's advance into the penalty area.
The match was a contrast to Liverpool's last visit to north London on Aug. 20 when Arsenal was beaten 2-0.
But starting his first game since then, Andy Carroll was starved for service as Tottenham overran Liverpool in midfield.
Suarez became the focal point of the Liverpool attack at the start of the second half with Carroll dropping back.
But Spurs would have doubled their lead a minute after the break had Defoe not sidefooted the ball wide from 10 meters (yards) at the end of a sweeping advance by right back Kyle Walker and Adebayor.
After Skrtel saw red, Defoe ended his seven-year wait for a goal against Liverpool.
The provider was Rafael van der Vaart, who returned from a hamstring injury after Niko Kranjcar was forced off with the same problem at half time.
After latching onto the Dutchman's throughball, Defoe fought off Enrique and turned the defender before dispatching the ball into the bottom right of Pepe Reina's goal.
Van der Vaart and Defoe combined again for Tottenham's third inside two minutes, although this time the shot was parried by Reina.
Adebayor, though, was alert to pick up the ball and lifted it over Reina before tapping into the net.
And the Togo striker netted again in stoppage time when he brought down Benoit Assou-Ekotto's pass and fired the ball past Reina.
