Aaron Lennon got on the scoresheet after just two minutes, but Keane stole all the headlines when he netted his 100th league goal to join an elite group of players who have entered the record books for the north London club.
Sunderland will count themselves unlucky not to get anything from the game and will be cursing the fact Michael Dawson made two clearances off the line late in the game.
Roy Keane's side got off to the worst possible start when SPurs opened the scoring on two minutes.
Jamie O'Hara refused to give up possession of the ball down the left-hand side and was rewarded when he managed to cross the ball into Dimitar Berbatov.
Berbatov flicked on to Lennon who managed to stab the ball home from close range.
Tottenham continued to pile pressure on the Sunderland goal and came close again on 27 minutes when Jermain Defoe played a superb pass into Lennon, who played the ball across goal.
The Sunderland defence failed to clear and Berbatov saw his close-range shot hit the top of the crossbar.
It was one-way traffic for the home side and stand-in skipper Defoe could have got on the scoresheet on 34 minutes.
Jermaine Jenas picked out Defoe who tried to steer a clever chip over Craig Gordon, but he produced a superb save to tip the ball away for a corner.
The Sunderland keeper made another stunning save just 60 seconds later, Berbatov fired a fierce drive from the edge of the box which forced another fine save from Gordon.
Tottenham defender Dawson produced a dreadful mistake on 48 minutes when he kicked the ball straight against Lee Young-Pyo. Daryl Murphy had a golden chance to grab an equaliser but he drilled his shot wide of the post.
Sunderland refused to lie down and were unlucky not to get on level terms in the latter stages of the game.
Tottenham's star performer Dawson then made two superb clearances off the line to deny Kenwyne Jones and Michael Chopra.
Murphy's shot on 88 minutes was then scrambled away by Radek Cerny. The rebound fell to Chopra, but his shot was superbly kept out by the home keeper.
Sunderland were made to pay in stoppage time when Keane finally reached the 100-goal mark for Tottenham, when his shot flew under the body of Gordon in the visitors' goal.