Chop of the pops! Geordie boy shows Keane the way forward and sinks Spurs

After watching Chopra mark his debut with an exquisite finish in the third minute of injury-time to confirm Sunderland's return to the top flight, Keane reiterated his belief that "it doesn't matter whether he's from Newcastle or New Zealand".

Keane is fully aware this has not been an easy move for an enthusiastic young man, his Geordie fiancee and his Newcastle United-daft family, but he is very good at playing it down.

They were all present to see Chopra start on the bench on his big day. Then, 18 minutes from time with Anthony Stokes running low on energy and luck, Keane turned to his bench and saw a hungry young man.

Chopra was desperate for a goal to convince Sunderland supporters he is worth all the hassle they have been getting from Newcastle fans quick to point out that Keane paid ten times the £500,000 which Cardiff City paid Newcastle for him a year ago.

The ice-cool finish, which meant he has scored at the Stadium of Light for Newcastle, Cardiff and Sunderland, supports the theory held by many that scoring goals comes naturally. But like Stokes and Daryl Murphy who started up front, Keane will work to increase his overall contribution.

Chopra's mentor Alan Shearer also recognised the young Asian' s work-rate when he was a junior at Newcastle and was among those to encourage him to sign for their rivals.

"I spoke to Alan before I went to Cardiff and he said it was the right thing to do," said Chopra. "This time he just said if you have a Premier team coming in for you, make the step back up. I admire him and respect him as a player and a man and if I can achieve at Sunderland half of what he did at Newcastle, I'll be a happy man.

"I was desperate to start because I knew I had to win over some of the Sunderland fans. I knew some had doubts about me coming but they probably love me now.

"There was never a flicker of doubt in my mind about coming because it was Sunderland. I jumped at the chance.

"When someone like Roy Keane comes in for you, a man of his calibre and someone who has achieved what he has in the game, it means a lot. Sunderland were in the Premiership and it was a big opportunity to show I can play in the Premier."

Chopra admitted he lost his head completely after the goal and reacted 'like a madman'. He looked like he wanted to shake hands with every supporter during his lap of honour but Keane waited patiently by the tunnel for his £5million recruit and embraced him.

"The manager said before the game we had to do ourselves proud,' said Chopra. 'He mentioned the fact that Sunderland had six points up to Christmas last time they were in the Premiership and to make sure that doesn't happen to us.

"He wants us to have a bit of pride about ourselves. Afterwards in the dressing-room he just said ''Well done and I'll see you at 10 in the morning for training''.'

While Keane may have been calmness personified on the surface, inside the former Manchester United captain was clearly relishing being back in the big time. The Premier League is his stage, after all.

He revealed: "When I walked into work, I thought to myself, 'It's great to be back in the Premier League'. It's the place to be. I was excited and it takes a lot to get me excited - ask my wife!

"And that's what I said to the players beforehand. This is the place to be, let me tell you. Tottenham at home, full of punters, beautiful day and then driving up seeing the fans. It's a great life. You've got to enjoy it and make the most of it and hopefully be part of a good future for Sunderland."

If there is one concern for Keane it will be the lack of chances created. Until Chopra's goal, only Dickson Etuhu came close and that was a halfchance just seconds earlier. Still, it could be worse. He could be Martin Jol.

The Tottenham manager's patched-up defence were all over the place when Ross Wallace crossed for Chopra and Craig Gordon's only test on his debut was a weak shot from substitute Tom Huddlestone just before the winner.

Dimitar Berbatov was hardly firing on all cylinders when Alan Wiley failed to give a first-half penalty for Dean Whitehead's slight challenge and the Bulgarian lost interest after that, frustrated by the excellent defending from Nyron Nosworthy and Paul McShane along with woeful service.

Jol said: "We didn't play with urgency and we didn't create. I could come up with all the excuses but I won't. We thought we were strong enough for the test but we were not. The strikers didn't work hard enough and create enough, the delivery was not good enough and we couldn't protect the score at 0-0."

SUNDERLAND (4-4-2): Gordon 7; Whitehead 6, Nosworthy 8, McShane 8, Wallace 7; Edwards 6, Etuhu 7, Yorke 6 (Miller 57mins, 6), Richardson 5 (Collins 72, 7); Stokes 6 (Chopra 72, 7), Murphy 6. Booked: Whitehead.

TOTTENHAM (4-4-2): Robinson 6; Chimbonda 6, Kaboul 7, Gardner 6, Stalteri 6; Tainio 5 (Bent 59, 6), Jenas 7, Zokora 5 (Huddlestone 87), Malbranque 7; Keane 6, Berbatov 5 (Defoe 77). Booked: Zokora.

Man of the match: Nyron Nosworthy.

Referee: Alan Wiley.