Martin Jol's side strengthened their hold on fourth place in the Premiership and they now hold a seven-point lead over North London rivals Arsenal, who are sixth.
Spurs made it three wins out of four over the holiday period through a first-half goal from Mido and a strike late on from captain Robbie Keane.
While the visitors had plenty to cheer, City's depressing run continued and they have now won only twice in their last 10 league matches.
It was a largely forgettable match, although Tottenham will be pleased with their battling display which earned their fourth away league victory.
Both sides made two changes from New Year's Eve with City without the injured Antoine Sibierski, while Stephen Jordan was left out. Stuart Pearce recalled Ben Thatcher at left-back and Stephen Ireland in midfield.
Spurs, meanwhile, were without the injured Edgar Davids and the unwell Teemu Tainio as Aaron Lennon and Michael Brown were drafted into midfield.
It was a measure of how bad the opening period was that Mido's goal was the only effort on target from either side - and that was down to a terrible blunder by Sylvain Distin.
The City captain was caught out by Lennon as he tried to usher the ball out of play for a goal kick. Lennon pulled the ball back to Mido, who was able to pick his spot from 12 yards for his ninth goal of the season.
The second half also lacked sparkle with City unable to find a route to goal. And by the 70th minute Pearce had used all three substitutions as Darius Vassell, Nedum Onuoha and Ireland were replaced by Bradley Wright-Phillips, David Sommeil and Lee Croft.
But the new look failed to improve City's fortunes and their fate was sealed when Keane scored Spurs' second seven minutes from time.
Ironically the goal came seconds after Wright-Phillips had City's best chance of the match, firing an angled shot inches wide of the upright.
Straight from goalkeeper Paul Robinson's kick, Mido headed the ball on and Keane ran between Richard Dunne and Thatcher to rifle a fierce low shot past David James.
The only disappointment for the visitors was a nasty injury sustained by Young-Pyo Lee. The left-back was taken off on a stretcher following a late challenge from Sommeil, which surprisingly went unpunished.