Keane on target as Spurs lift Asia Trophy

Zeenews Bureau

Beijing: Robbie Keane scored a brace to help Tottenham Hotspur beat Hull City 3-0 and win the Barclays Asia Trophy at the Chinese capital on Friday. In a game overshadowed by the death of football great Sir Bobby Robson, the teams observed a minute`s silence for the England legend before enthralling the 25,000 fans in the Workers` Stadium with a fast-paced encounter despite humid and hot conditions. Tottenham captain Keane sent an early warning to new striker Peter Crouch that starting places in the Spurs attack next season would have to be fought for with his double strike. He gave the North London side a deserved 16th minute lead and then converted a controversial 69th minute penalty after Hull keeper Tony Warner was deemed to have fouled Jermain Defoe. Young England star Aaron Lennon sealed the match in the dying minutes when he neatly converted new signing Kyle Naughton`s low cross. It was the second time manager Harry Redknapp has lifted the trophy, having won it two years ago when he was in charge of Portsmouth. Earlier, West Ham United beat hosts Beijing Guoan 2-0 to take third place, with defender Daniel Gabbidon heading in Mark Noble`s 79th minute corner and substitute Zavon Hines getting the second in injury time. Redknapp sent out the same starting 11 from Wednesday`s win over West Ham and his men looked by far the more impressive, passing the ball confidently and launching waves of attacks that should have yielded more goals. Battling Hull found their stride eventually and were denied an equaliser when Spurs` keeper Heurelho Gomes parried Dean Marney`s fierce strike from just outside the Spurs` penalty box in the first half. Phil Brown`s side pushed for a goal as the tempo slowed in the second period and were nearly rewarded when they bombarded the Spurs half with Gomes reacting twice at full stretch to deny Kamil Zayette and Keven Kilbane. Hull continued to harass and Brown will be impressed by his squad`s commitment but Spurs had effectively claimed ownership of the game after Keane`s second goal. The competitive finale to the four-game tournament will be welcomed by Premier League bosses as they seek to attract a loyal and lucrative following among China`s 1.3 billion people. "We`ll gauge the success of this tournament by the reaction of our share holders which are the three clubs and their fans who have come here," said English Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore. "The previous three competitions were well received and they went back and told the other 17 Premier League sides how fantastic it was." He said the Premier League was considering basing the tournament in one Asian country and inviting more teams to play in a possible expansion of the tournament.