Daily Mirror

Hat-trick Harry hands out Cupital punishment

- BY NEIL McLEMAN

HARRY KANE fired a stunning hat-trick to inflict his usual misery on Fulham. Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino revealed he held clear-the-air talks last week after defeats to Gent and Liverpool.

And the Argentine sent out a strong side to sweep

MAURICIO POCHETTINO has already got his sights set on Wembley after cruising past Fulham at Craven Cottage.

But there is no need to worry about Pochettino getting ahead of himself because he is merely thinking about Gent in the return leg of the Europa League on Thursday.

And that was his reasoning behind playing a near full-strength line-up in the FA Cup even in the middle of a hectic fixture schedule.

The Argentinia­n coach was determined to regain some momentum and his reward for playing the big guns was a morale-boosting victory and getting Harry Kane back among the goals.

Kane’s clinically taken hat-trick destroyed poor Fulham and it will also put a spring back in the England striker’s step after a lean spell of just one goal in his previous five games. Tottenham had been in danger of going off the boil after losing their last two games at Liverpool and Gent, but they were brilliantl­y efficient as they swept aside their Championsh­ip opponents.

It was the perfect tonic as they approach the business end of the season.

Tottenham have a wonderful history in the FA Cup but, incredibly, have not won the famous old trophy since 1991 and have lost six semi-finals since then.

The away fans were singing about Ossie’s Dream by the end and Spurs need to start winning some silverware to go with all the plaudits they are earning under Pochettino.

These are exciting times at White Hart Lane and they have arguably the best English centre-forward as Kane took his tally to 19 goals in all competitio­ns this season.

Almost as impressive­ly, Kane has now scored 20 goals in his last 22 London derbies.

If only Tottenham can overcome their jinx and make Wembley feel like home in their European campaign then they are surely onto something good this season.

Even the squad players who did come in, Kieran Trippier and Harry Winks, really stood out as the rightback and midfielder respective­ly more than played their part.

They found Fulham obliging opponents as Slavisa Jokanovic’s men try to play good football. That suited Spurs, while Fulham’s powder puff attack posed very little threat.

The home side even gave Tottenham a helping hand for the 16th-minute opener. Fulham defender Tim Ream put the ball out of play with a careless pass, the ball boy quickly (Jose Mourinho would never let him in the ground again if it was one of his) threw the ball to Trippier.

Trippier’s throw released Christian Eriksen and his cross found Kane, who slid in to score. Incredibly, that was Tottenham’s first goal from open play in 375 minutes. No wonder they had gone off the boil.

The closest Fulham came was when Tottenham keeper Michel Vorm gave the ball straight to Tom Cairney, but the home skipper could not take advantage, tamely firing it straight back.

The combinatio­n that provided Tottenham’s first goal also set up the second after 51 minutes. Trippier’s pull-back found Eriksen, his cross picked out Kane and the cool finish went through the legs of Fulham keeper Marcus Bettinelli.

Winks prompted and probed in midfield while Kane and Dele Alli had good chances against their outclassed opponents.

The third came after 73 minutes when Eriksen found Alli and his perfectlyt­imed pass put Kane clean through. The Tottenham striker duly buried a shot past Bettinelli.

There was a really nice touch when 36-year-old Scott Parker (left) came on for Fulham. The ex-Spurs man got a great reception from both sets of fans.

Kane was subbed after his third goal, and his replacemen­t Moussa Sissoko forced an excellent late save from Bettinelli.

It was all too easy for Tottenham by the end.

 ??  ?? HE KANE HE SAW.. Harry Kane scored his fifth hat-trick for Spurs
HE KANE HE SAW.. Harry Kane scored his fifth hat-trick for Spurs
 ??  ?? KANE AND ABLE Harry Kane slides in to put Tottenham 1-0 ahead THREE & EASY Kane fires his third goal to seal the Spurs rout
KANE AND ABLE Harry Kane slides in to put Tottenham 1-0 ahead THREE & EASY Kane fires his third goal to seal the Spurs rout

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