Kane scores hattrick to give Spurs emphatic win over Stoke City
LONDON: Harry Kane netted thrice in the first half, becoming the joint top scorer of the league on 17 with Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez and Everton's Romelu Lukaku, to inspire Tottenham to a sound 4-0 victory over Stoke City at White Hart Lane on Sunday.
The England international scored his second hattrick in as many appearances in domestic competition and assisted Dele Alli to send Mauricio Pochettino's side to the second spot of the league table.
Despite having a tough match at Wembley this week and getting ousted of the Europa League at the hands of Gent, the Spurs routed Stoke in the first half itself and ended the tie.
Kane opened the scoring with his 100th goal at club level before making is 2-0 with a sublime half-volley with 32 minutes played.
The 23-year-old's deflected free-kick secured his second hat-trick and he thereafter set up Alli to make it 4-0 before the break to cap a ruthless performance.
Ryan Shawcross halted Christian Eriksen's run into the box, but managed only to flick the ball into Kane's path rather than clear, allowing Kane to fire into the bottom-right corner of Lee Grant's net.
Vertonghen rattled the crossbar from close range, but a second unerring strike from Kane put Spurs firmly in control after half an hour, the striker firing a sublime half-volley from the edge of the area through the legs of Victor Wanyama and beyond Grant.
Five minutes later, Eriksen rolled a free-kick into his path, and Kane's low effort from 25 yards took a huge deflection off Crouch on its way into the net.
With seconds to go before the break, Kane raced beyond Bruno Martins Indi and squared across the penalty area for Alli, who slid to steer the ball high into the net.