With the visitors making eight changes to their side that started their last Premier League game against QPR on Sunday they looked a little rusty early on with some of their passing although they still created four chances on goal inside the first 11 minutes, with Yago Falque shooting straight at Mark Gillespie, Andros Townsend firing wide, Falque seeing Gillespie make a good tip over on a long range effort and Gylfi Sigurdsson narrowly missing the target.
Clint Dempsey then headed a Townsend cross over the top on 25 minutes before he then saw, as the ball broke to him in the box, his close range effort cleared off the line by Danny Livesey. Spurs finally taking the lead though with 37 minutes gone when Jan Vertonghen headed home from a Sigurdsson free-kick in. Carlisle then quickly responding before half-time when Kallum Higginbotham and Danny Cadamarteri had efforts on goal blocked by Tom Huddlestone and Michael Dawson respectively.
Eight minutes into the second period and Tottenham doubled their lead when Townsend made a good run in from the right at pace before firing home a low powerful drive from just outside the box. Spurs began to stroke the ball around now and Gillespie had to make three excellent saves in quick succession, first from a Ryan Mason header on an Adam Smith cross, then a tremendous double stop as he first clawed out another Mason header, this time from a Townsend ball in, while then managing to somehow block Sigurdsson's low follow up on the rebound.
Cadamarteri and substitute Liam Noble then fired wide as Carlisle looked to find a way back into the game with fellow replacement Mark Beck going the closest as he sent a free header from a Robson cross in straight into the gloves of Spurs goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini. The visitors having the last word on the night though as Kyle Walker skipped easily past Frank Simek a minute before time on his way to sticking in a nice delivery for Sigurdsson to thump a header into the United net from eight yards out.