Harry Redknapp took less than 24 hours to deliver a vital victory for Tottenham Hotspur.
Roman Pavlyuchenko and Darren Bent grabbed the goals against Bolton Wanderers at White Hart Lane but all eyes were on Redknapp after his appointment to succeed Juande Ramos as Spurs manager.
They are still bottom of the table but have made up ground with other strugglers and crucially have a morale-boosting first league win of the season, at the ninth attempt.
Bolton, who had Gavin McCann sent off, gave Spurs nervous moments but there is enough for Redknapp to work with when he starts his new job this week.
Reserve-team coach Clive Allen actually picked the team to face Bolton in the Barclays Premier League match but Redknapp was in the dressing room and dug-out following his arrival from Portsmouth.
The encouraging news for Redknapp was Ledley King being fit, three days after the skipper played against Udinese. It was the first time he had been ready for games in quick succession this season.
extra energy
Redknapp was unveiled to the Spurs fans before kick-off and as expected there was an extra energy from the hosts at the outset, Jamie O'Hara having an early shot from long distance deflected over and it took a brave header from Andy O'Brien to prevent Pavlyuchenko from tapping in from the resulting corner.
The opener came in the 18th minute when Bentley picked the ball up on the right flank.
After exchanging passes with Alan Hutton, the early cross came and was met with a downward header from Pavlyuchenko 12 yards out, with the ball going in off the post.
Benoit Assou-Ekotto, hauled off at half-time in Ramos' final match in charge, made a mess of a simple clearance to put goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes in trouble - the ball fell to Kevin Davies on the edge of the area and his finish dropped just wide.
more steel
Matt Taylor then had an effort, from a similar distance but more central, that curled wide.
When Spurs failed to clear a free-kick, Johan Elmander got a shot on goal that required King to clear off the line.
Huddlestone had a couple of efforts before the break, the first when Jussi Jaaskelainen failed to hold a Bentley free-kick, then after O'Hara wriggled inside from the left and passed neatly.
Redknapp had said he wanted more steel - and Bolton were giving them a genuine battle.
It took a last-ditch O'Hara tackle to nick the ball off Nolan's bootlaces as he attempted to shoot.
Then McCann was dismissed, his second yellow card after he caught the ankle of Huddlestone.
Huddlestone was able to continue and he sent through Modric, only for the Croatia midfielder to shoot straight at Jaaskelainen. O'Hara also had an effort that flew over.
Bent came on for Pavlyuchenko and should have added a second when Modric slipped him through.
Aaron Lennon, another substitute, fired over after Huddlestone had an effort saved.
Jaaskelainen brought down Bent with 16 minutes left, and the striker smashed the penalty into the bottom corner.
