THIS home defeat, yet another of them, puts Reading emphatically down among the dead men and almost certainly condemned to relegation if they cannot win next Sunday at Derby County. It was a curious game, utterly dominated by a coolly effective Tottenham throughout a first half in which they should certainly have scored more than the goal that won them the points.

Yet in the second half, Reading rose from the ashes; or all but did so. A hugely improved, more spirited and effective performance all but bringing them an equaliser in the closing minutes, thwarted only by two splendid saves by Tottenham’s goalkeeper, Radek Cerny.

There is no doubt that Tottenham’s Robbie Keane bestrode the field. Throughout the first half Reading could do nothing with him and it was he who scored their goal on 16 minutes, exploiting a neat pass from a revitalised Darren Bent and drifting left before beating the resilient Marcus Hahnemann. When it was known that Dimitar Berbatov, so prolific this season and so likely to leave White Hart Lane in the summer, and the swift right-winger Aaron Lennon were absent injured from the Tottenham team, you thought it might put Reading in with a decent chance.

In fact, according to Reading’s manager, Steve Coppell, if anything these absences worked against his team. “I would have been happier with Berbatov and Lennon playing,” he said, “because there would have been more of a defined shape . . . they just passed around us.” Indeed they did. Coppell actually praised his team, saying: “Even at half-time, I said their effort had been incredible. They worked hard to stay in the game. We just needed to restructure.” But to a neutral eye, the Reading we saw in the first half were flaccid, lacking in commitment and any kind of attacking threat. Coppell felt his team had been getting back into the game in the latter stages of that half, but it was in the second half that they suddenly came to vigorous life and took the game to a Spurs team who had previously been toying with them. Keane was in absolute command – here, there and everywhere, now threatening in attack, now dropping into midfield to get things going, well abetted by Jermaine Jenas. It came as a complete surprise when his manager, Juande Ramos, who described his performance as “magnificent”, took Keane off after 77 minutes, no doubt to the extreme relief of Reading. Asked why he did it, Ramos rather surprisingly explained that he felt his team needed “fresh legs”.

Spurs played with Didier Zokora in front of the back four and behind the midfield three. Throughout the first half the system worked very well. In the 11th minute a shrewd ball by Steed Malbranque gave Bent the chance to shoot. He did so strongly but Hahnemann kept out the ball with his leg. Five minutes later, however, there was nothing he could do with Keane’s goal. And midway through the half, Keane’s cleverly struck right-footed free kick was pushed away by Reading’s American keeper. On 25 minutes, when Malbranque beat him, the strike seemed good enough, but was somewhat doubtfully ruled offside.

In the second half Reading switched their left-winger, Stephen Hunt, to the centre, moving Kevin Doyle from a place in the “hole”, to the left flank, where he was much more prominent. Yet Reading’s defence still showed an alarming tendency to leave dangerous gaps, such as early in the second half, when Alan Hutton overlapped on the right and found Keane in abundant space when he crossed. Keane crossed in turn, but Malbranque shot wide.

Gradually, however, Reading were looking as if they might equalise. Leroy Lita, invisible in the first half, was immensely more prominent in the second. His shot from the left 10 minutes into the half was well held by Cerny and some 14 minutes later, Dave Kitson found Marek Matejovsky, whose shot went only just wide. Tottenham no longer bestrode the field, but when their substitute Jamie O’Hara served Bent from the left, the striker hit his shot against the right-hand post.

A minute after that, Keane left the field and on 80 minutes, a long shot by Reading’s centre-back Ivar Ingimarsson was beaten down by Cerny. He had much more trouble when, after 86 minutes, Kitson, receiving from Lita, shot fiercely, only for the keeper to turn the ball round the left-hand post. And it was round the other post that he subsequently deflected a tremendous drive by Liam Rosenior.

Now, Reading must strive at Derby. “We have a significant chance next week,” said Coppell, “but it’s time for us to deliver.”

Match stats

Star man: Robbie Keane (Tottenham)

Player ratings: Reading: Hahnemann 7, Rosenior 6 (Oster 88min), Ingimarsson 6, Duberry 6, Shorey 6, Doyle 6 (Long 80min), Harper 6, Bikey 6 (Matejovsky 65min) Hunt 6, Lita 6, Kitson 6
Tottenham: Cerny 7, Hutton 6, Dawson 6, Woodgate 6, Gilberto 6, Jenas 7, Zokora 6, Hud-dlestone 6 (O’Hara 61min), Malbranque 7, Keane 8 (Boateng 77min), Bent 7

Scorer: Tottenham: Keane 16

Yellow cards: Reading: Harper

Referee: H Webb

Attendance: 24,125