Roberto Soldado winner downs Cardiff City

Roberto Soldado bagged his first Premier League goal of 2014 in helping Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-0 victory over Cardiff City at White Hart Lane today.

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Tim Sherwood opted to pair Soldado with Emmanuel Adebayor from the start and the young coach was vindicated in his decision on 28 minutes.

The Togolese, who struck twice in the 3-1 win over Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk on Thursday, turned provider this afternoon, feeding his Spanish partner, who fired beyond David Marshall.

Steven Caulker, who began his career at Spurs, came within the width of the crossbar from providing an immediate riposte against his former club moments later.

Declan John came close for the visitors again before by forcing Hugo Lloris into a finger-tip save.

The North London outfit could have sealed the points in the closing stages after a swift counter attack led to Marshall denying Harry Kane, but the miss was rendered academic by the final whistle shortly after.

Consequently, Tottenham move four points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City - who have two games in hand - in the Premier League table.