Jermain Defoe met Martin Chivers in the tunnel at half-time on Thursday night and the former striker urged him to ‘keep going’ and surpass him as Tottenham’s record goalscorer in Europe.

Defoe duly did so, converting a 67th-minute penalty to break the 22-goal record of ‘Big Chiv’ and book Tottenham’s place in the knockout stages of the Europa League with two games to spare.

A good night all round, you might think, particularly in light of Erik Lamela’s best performance so far in a Spurs shirt. But Chivers’s half-time message provided an apt reflection of this match. Yet again, Tottenham’s expensively assembled squad failed to entertain against inferior opposition, even if they ground out a result.

Their run of clean sheets in this competition finally ended when Brad Friedel palmed Cadu’s shot back into open play and Ismail Isa struck for Sheriff after 72 minutes.

After branding his critics ‘incompetent’, Villas-Boas, thankfully, had seen fit to heed their advice.

The Spurs manager did not even name Hugo Lloris among his substitutes; only four days after the goalkeeper took a heavy blow to the head in last Sunday’s 0-0 draw at Everton. The Frenchman will be back to face Newcastle on Sunday.

In Lloris’s place, 42-year-old Friedel became the oldest player to feature in the Europa League, while Etienne Capoue started his first game since suffering an ankle injury on September 1.

This was still a very strong Spurs starting XI, as Villas-Boas’s side sealed qualification before a ‘frightening’ December fixture list.

The Tottenham boss said: ‘It would be more pleasing if we had managed to be first in the group and solve everything but it will keep us on our toes for the next two games.

‘It’s a great honour for Jermain. The record will stay in time, like Martin’s did, and it will be difficult for anybody to break. I hope it means this club goes through to the later stages of this competition so he can add even more goals.’

Yet Tottenham struggled to create many clear-cut chances until Sheriff tired in the second half, despite Lamela’s industry on the right and Mousa Dembele’s artistry in the middle.

‘Let’s pretend we’ve scored a goal,’ sang the home fans, before jeering the half-time ‘highlights’.

Defoe barely had a sniff and admitted he struggled to pick his runs, but Lamela’s 20th-minute penalty claim might have been enhanced if the 21-year-old had not managed to keep his balance after being tripped by Djibril Paye’s outstretched leg.

The Argentine also brought a left-foot shot down quite beautifully only to see it blocked. Gylfi Sigurdsson’s cross was gathered comfortably by Vjekoslav Tomic and the Sheriff goalkeeper was alert to tip Christian Eriksen’s 55th-minute shot over the bar.

Lamela’s toil was eventually rewarded with a 60th-minute, left-foot strike.

It has been a difficult introduction to English football for the £26million signing, but we saw flashes of what might be to come last night.

His contribution was not over, however, as he then went to ground after an ill-timed tackle from Paye — winning the penalty which Defoe gleefully converted to claim the record.

— Daily Mail