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Rock-bottom Tottenham Hotspur had more misery heaped on them by two ex-players as Portsmouth beat them 2-0 at Fratton Park.

Pompey strike duo Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch both scored against their former employers to end their own side's terrible run of heavy defeats and move into the top half of the table, though they will now miss key player Lassana Diarra through suspension after he was sent off late on.

Midfielder Glen Little - making his Portsmouth debut after being plagued by injury since his summer move from Reading - was a constant threat and he won a free-kick on the right wing that Spurs captain Jermaine Jenas subsequently handled to concede a soft penalty on 33 minutes.

Defoe - who scored 64 goals for Spurs during his four years at the club - stepped up and fired his spot-kick clinically into the bottom corner. Goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes went the right way but the strike had him beaten.

The 25-year-old also had a hand in partner Crouch's goal. He set up full-back Armand Traore whose fierce shot was saved by Gomes but the ball kicked up to Crouch - who spent two years at White Hart Lane as a trainee - and he nodded into the net for his first Portsmouth goal.

Portsmouth's French midfielder Diarra - who turned down a summer move to Tottenham - was highly influential yet again. However, he is now facing a suspension after his wild lunge on Benoit Assou-Ekotto earned him a second yellow card and a sending off in the final few minutes.

Defoe had the ball in the back of the Spurs net as early as the third minute, after he latched on to Crouch's flick-on and finished past Gomes one-on-one. However, the flag was already up for offside against him.

Tottenham will feel aggrieved that they did not have a penalty of their own in the second half. Aaron Lennon - a half-time replacement on the left wing for the ineffective Gilberto - fired a cross in from the by-line that Diarra blocked with his raised hand. Referee Mike Dean didn't see the handball and awarded a corner to Tottenham.

Tottenham had the majority of possession throughout the match and had plenty of shots, but they failed to create many clear-cut opportunities, with a misfiring David Bentley unable to supply lone striker Roman Pavlyuchenko with any decent service, leaving the Russian isolated for most of the match.

Darren Bent replaced Pavlyuchenko - rather than come on to partner him - with less than 20 minutes remaining, and although he managed to get a couple of shots away he could not drag his team back into the match.

Tony Mabert / Eurosport