Villas-Boas salutes Defoe impact in Tottenham win

The striker scored twice inside the opening half an hour - with Christian Eriksen adding a late third - as Spurs comfortably beat Tromso 3-0 in the Europa League

Andre Villas-Boas hailed Jermain Defoe's performance as Tottenham secured a comfortable 3-0 victory overTromso in the Europa League.

The England international striker scored a first-half brace on Thursday to take his tally of European goals for Spurs to 20, first lobbing Tromso goalkeeper Marcus Sahlman before coolly slotting home a second in the 30th minute.

Christian Eriksen added a third late in the piece to cap an impressive performance from Tottenham, who sauntered their way through large spells of the match.

And manager Villas-Boas was pleased with the impact Defoe was able to have on the game, despite largely playing second fiddle to close-season arrival Roberto Soldado in the Premier League this season.

Speaking to ITV, he said: "Everyone knows what [Defoe] is capable of, his record speaks for itself. He is keeping himself sharp and fit and he's been excellent again tonight.

"There were two great assists from Lewis [Holtby] and [Erik] Lamela, but Defoe showed great movement as well." 

There were some negatives for Tottenham though, as Danny Rose and Moussa Dembele were forced from the pitch with injuries.

Villas-Boas remained positive though, happy to start the European campaign with a win in a match they were rarely, if ever, tested in.

"It was a perfect start," he continued. "It was important for us to get three points straight away. 

"I think we had some good moments, it was a difficult game because of the injuries suffered throughout the game. But I'm very pleased in general by the performance."