Tottenham Hotspur, at last, have recovered their rhythm. A first win in six Premier League games and over seven weeks has hauled Harry Redknapp's side back behind Arsenal in third place only on goal difference, their untimely blip apparently checked. Confidence is flowing back into this team's challenge with the run-in upon them.

The celebrations that erupted upon the final whistle here reflected the reality that an unexpected opportunity – provided by Arsenal's defeat at Queens Park Rangers on Saturday – had been seized upon. This had been an awkward occasion, opponents of real quality holding their hosts until the last 17 minutes and perhaps even threatening to prolong the misery, only for Emmanuel Adebayor's late brace to ease the nerves. Arsenal host a wounded Manchester City on Sunday; by then, with a result at Sunderland, Spurs could have moved clear back into third place. That duel is back on.

There was relief to be had in victory. The hosts' initial advantage had been secured within the opening quarter, Luka Modric summoning a wonderful pass inside Angel Rangel to liberate Gareth Bale. The winger's pull-back was aimed at Adebayor with Ashley Williams stretching to intercept, only for the on-rushing Rafael van der Vaart to dispatch the loose ball beyond Michel Vorm before City's defenders could react. Bale's ability to unsettle and by-pass Rangel was a regular feature, the Welshman invariably fuelled by Modric's visionary delivery from the centre.

Yet while Spurs were fluid and threatening, they hardly monopolised the possession and, once Vorm had done well to deny Younes Kaboul's looping header, the visitors added bite to their own slick approach play. Ashley Williams and Wayne Routledge had unsettled the home side before the interval. Gylfi Sigurdsson went closer immediately after the break, his swerving shot from distance pushed away magnificently by the 40-year-old Brad Friedel. As it was, that proved a temporary reprieve, the Icelandic midfielder promptly crunched a volley from Routledge's knock-down to find the far corner with Friedel sprawling.

Sigurdsson had excelled at Reading in the Championship but, with each passing display, the 22-year-old's loan signing from Hoffenheim in January appears inspirational. If Swansea had lacked anything over the first half of the season, it was perhaps a goalscorer emerging from their solid, midfield trio to ease the expectation placed upon Danny Graham. Sigurdsson is keeping the highly-regarded Chelsea loanee Josh McEachran out of this team and has scored six times in his last five away league games.

While Spurs never felt comfortable when Sigurdsson glided into possession within sight of goal, their own high-profile loanee, Adebayor, delighted in the visitors' defensive fragility. The marking was slack from Van der Vaart's corner for the striker's first, his header emphatic. Garry Monk was grounded for the Togo forward's second, the header from the returning Aaron Lennon's cross thumped low beyond Vorm to confirm Spurs' return to winning ways. Tottenham can attack the last few weeks of this campaign with relish once again.