Tottenham edged towards the last-16 of the UEFA Cup with a 2-1 victory over Slavia Prague but Radek Cerny handed his former club a lifeline with a second-half blunder in the first-leg clash.

Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane, who now have 36 goals between them this season, struck in the first half at the Strahov Stadium to provide a cushion for Juande Ramos' side as they prepare for the Carling Cup final.

In sub-zero temperatures in the Czech Republic capital, Spurs were cruising until Cerny dropped the ball under his crossbar and David Strihavka finished.

Tottenham captain Keane lamented a poor second half after his side failed to kill off the tie.

Asked whether Spurs should have put the tie beyond Slavia's reach, Keane told five: "We certainly should have.

"In the first half we played brilliantly, they didn't get a sniff.

"We came out in the second half and I don't know what happened, we knew they would come out and make it difficult for us. The second half performance was not good enough."

As for Cerny's mistake, Keane said: "Things happen, he made a mistake but he's big enough to accept that.

"We've won the game, that's the most important thing. But we wanted to get the job finished today.

"There's still a bit left in this game, we'll get them back to White Hart Lane and there's no reason why we can't go through."

More news from SportingLife.com