Tottenham Hotspur were beaten 2-1 by Sunderland with Djibril Cisse scoring a late winner on his debut, in the Premiership clash at the White Hart Lane on Saturday.

All goals came in the second half with Kieran Richardson opening the scoring. Jermaine Jenas got Spurs’ equaliser. But Cisse, who joined Roy Keane’s side from Marseille earlier this week, won the day for the visitors.

Spurs have now lost both their games in the Premiership, having been beaten by Middlesbrough last weekend. Sunderland have opened their account in the table after having suffered a defeat last weekend at home to Liverpool.

Spurs, who lost Robbie Keane to Liverpool this summer, were without Dimitar Berbatov for this game as boss Juande Ramos kept the Manchester United transfer target out as he was not focused enough.

As such, with lone striker Darren Bent up front, Spurs could not create many chances. A couple of opportunities came the home side’s way in quick succession in the first half, but firstly David Bentley’s delightful corner-kick went wasted as no one in the white shirt could get at the other end of it in the Black Cats box.

Soon after, England winger Aaron Lennon skilfully went past a host of rival players to send a cross into the box intended for Bent, who however was outjumped by Nyron Nosworthy to avert the danger.

Former Spurs midfielder Steed Malbranque came closest to scoring in the first half as his 25-yard grounder struck the goal-post with Heurelho Gomes little bit slow to come down to his right side. Craig Gordon in Sunderland goal, was relatively untroubled.

Spurs had a good chance at the start of the second half, but Gareth Bale, who was booked in the first half for diving, planted his free header over the cross bar following another good corner-kick by Bentley.

At the other end, Danny Collins failed to direct his glancing header at the Spurs goal following a free-kick by Andy Reid. The Black Cats got a good move going with Diouf crossing in from right for Daryl Murphy to take a first-time prod from left and Spurs needed Gomes to make a diving save.

But the north-London side were stunned in the 55th minute with former Manchester United winger Richardson driving home a stunning 25-yard shot from left, prompting an instant double change from Spurs.

Ramos sent in Giovani and Tom Huddlestone taking off Lennon and Benoit Assou-Ekotto, in his attempt to overturn the deficit. And he could have expected a goal soon but Jonathan Woodgate missed from three yards after Bentley’s free-kick was only parried by Gordon as far as the Spurs defender, bringing more frustration to the home fans.

Spurs looked to pull themselves out of the hole, but with the midfield not able to work in cohesion, Bent had no proper supply. However, when he did get a great pass to run on with the ball, his angular effort from the right, was deflected out for a corner by Gordon.

Jermaine Jenas’ header trickled past the post after earlier having made a good effort in getting the ball close to the goalpost. Minutes later, Bentley’s powerful long-ranger was tipped over by Gordon.

The parity was restored in the 73rd minute by Jenas, who found the target from the centre of the penalty area after Gordon blocked Luka Modric’s shot only for the rebound to find the Spurs skipper.

Both sides went for it with the last quarter to play, as Malbranque’s fierce strike hit a Spurs player, sparking stifled appeal from the Black Cats for a handball.

The visiting fans were celebrating again and Djibril Cisse was the reason as he headed past Gomes in the 83rd minute, on his debut coming off the bench. The France ace received a fine cross from Murphy from the left, and the former Liverpool man was not to miss from six yards to bring full points to the Black Cats.

There were boos ringing in from the stand as Spurs put up another disjointed performance and Ramos will have to address the situation quickly in order to prevent losing too much ground at the start of the season.

Teams:

Tottenham: Heurelho Gomes, Didier Zokora, Ledley King, Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Tom Huddlestone 57), Jonathan Woodgate, Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon (Giovani dos Santos 57), Jermaine Jenas, Luka Modric, David Bentley, Darren Bent.

Substitutes not used: Cesar Sanchez, Michael Dawson, Gilberto, Chris Gunter, Jamie O'Hara.

Sunderland: Craig Gordon, Danny Higginbotham, Danny Collins, Phillip Bardsley, Nyron Nosworthy, Andy Reid (Liam Miller 87), Dean Whitehead, Steed Malbranque, Kieran Richardson (Djibril Cisse 66), El-Hadji Diouf, Daryl Murphy.

Substitutes not used: Darren Ward, Anthony Stokes, Grant Leadbitter, Michael Chopra, David Healy.