Spurs up to second as Kane treble crushes Stoke
LONDON: England striker Harry Kane hit a clinical first-half hat-trick as Tottenham Hotspur stormed up to second in the Premier League with a 4-0 home demolition of Stoke City on Sunday.
Kane reached 100 career goals at club level with his opener as he delivered a spectacular treble within 37 minutes, before setting up Dele Alli to give Spurs a 4-0 halftime lead at White Hart Lane.
It was the perfect way for Mauricio Pochettino’s side to get their Premier League campaign back on track after its turbulent February, which saw defeat to domestic rivals Liverpool followed by a surprise Europa League exit at the hands of Belgian side Genk.
“We wanted to come out and get back to winning ways,” Kane told Sky Sports. “It was exactly what we need. I just tried to get my shots off and if you don’t shoot, you don’t score.”
Kane, 23, who also scored three against Fulham in the FA Cup a week ago, put the home team ahead in the 14th minute.
He added another 18 minutes later, volleying in from a corner and completed his third treble in six weeks with a deflected shot.
Alli made it 4-0 before halftime from Kane’s cross as Tottenham’s victory took them above Manchester City and closed the gap on runaway leaders Chelsea to 10 points.
Chelsea had surged 11 points clear at the top as Pedro inspired a 3-1 win over Swansea City on Saturday.
Antonio Conte’s leaders were made to work hard to dispatch a much-improved Swansea side despite taking a 19th-minute lead when Cesc Fabregas scored on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Fernando Llorente scored from Swansea’s first real chance on the cusp of halftime, heading in after Gylfi Sigurdsson found him with a quickly-taken free kick.
But Chelsea’s dominance was rewarded in the 72nd minute when Pedro’s routine long-range effort slipped past a weak attempted stop by goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.
Any prospect of a second equaliser for Swansea ended after Diego Costa volleyed in his 16th goal of the league campaign from Eden Hazard’s cutback in the 84th.
“For sure we dominated the game. We showed great character in the second half and deserved to win,” Conte said.
“Now it’s important to look at ourselves and continue with great focus and concentration. We need 29 points to be sure of winning the league.”
LEICESTER INTO BOTTOM THREE
Hours after fired coach Claudio Ranieri bid farewell to the Leicester City players, the calamitous champions slipped into the relegation zone.