Steffen Iversen scores Tottenham's second goal

Ziege's excellent set-pieces were a threat throughout, while Poyet's surging runs through midfield and his calming influence proved valuable to Glenn Hoddle's side.

Bunjevcevic had a steady game in central defence and linked up well with Gary Doherty.

Fiorentina's Enrico Chiesa should have silenced the buoyant crowd when he slipped through the right side of the home defence after six minutes.

But Neil Sullivan made a smart save diving to his left and gathered at the second attempt.

Then Sergei Rebrov had a gilt-edged opportunity from a Ziege cross, but completely mis-hit his shot.

Spurs grabbed the lead after 14 minutes following a big leap by Ferdinand.

He challenged Guiseppe Taglialatela for Mauricio Taricco's mis-hit cross and, as the goalkeeper fumbled, scrambled the ball home.

Manninger save

Tottenham doubled their lead on the half-hour when Poyet's clever flick from Rebrov's accurate cross crept into the corner of the net.

The pace of the game slowed as the interval approached.

And Spurs had a shock right on the whistle when a Chiesa corner from the right flank was thumped against the outside of a post by Alessandro Pierini.

Alex Manninger, recently acquired from Arsenal, came on at the interval for Fiorentina.

He was beaten after just four minutes when Poyet burst through and set up substitute Iversen to place a delightful lob into the net.

Substitute Simon Davies met another Ziege cross with a firm header after 71 minutes, but his effort bounced wide.

Manninger also palmed a late Iversen header round the post.