PLENTY TO SHOUT ABOUT

Kane and Spurs are roaring after big boost to top-four hopes but Stoke are raging as relegation now looms

STOKE were not the only ones left feeling robbed. The Potters supporters, who do indignation louder than anyone else in the league, raged at referee Graham Scott all afternoon.

Their howls of protest were matched by those of Harry Kane, whose claims that he got a touch on Christian Eriksen’s free-kick for the deciding goal also fell on deaf ears.

There may have been doubt over Tottenham’s winner but the result leaves no confusion over two matters.

First that Spurs will be in the Champions League next season. They are 11 points clear of Chelsea with five weeks left and may well be looking to take second place, let alone fourth.

Second, Stoke are in serious danger of seeing their ten-year stay in the top flight come to an end.

The hosts hustled and bustled but the spectre of a first spell outside the elite for a decade looms large in the Potteries.

There was a ray of hope, when the otherwise-useless Mame Biram Diouf tapped into an empty net to level after Eriksen’s drive had given Tottenham the lead following a poor first half, but it faded when the Dane’s free-kick evaded everyone to go in.

‘It was my goal,’ claimed Kane. ‘It flicked off my shoulder.’ The Premier League’s Match Centre disagreed. No wonder the England man argued. The goal would have put him on 36 across all competitions, one better than last year’s record.

It would have also increased his Premier League tally to 25, four behind Liverpool’s prolific Mo Salah. Perhaps most importantly, it would have ended a barren, by his standards, run of 322 on-pitch minutes without scoring, which dates back to February 25.

Mauricio Pochettino, understandably, was unconcerned. ‘He said it touched his shoulder but the most important thing is the three points for us,’ he said. ‘It was massive for us and puts in really good position to achieve what we want. A massive, massive three points.’

Pochettino was speaking like a man who knows the race for Europe is won and with a new home to move to and pay for, his satisfaction is justified.

‘To have the possibility to pay Champions League football in the new stadium will be fantastic for the club,’ he added. Spurs had won their previous

four Premier League matches against Stoke by four goals, a top-flight record. The previous two encounters in Stoke had ended 4-0 to the visitors. Earlier this season they won 5-1 at Wembley.

Paul Lambert had lost all four of his previous home top-flight fixtures against the Londoners.

This, however, was far from another walkover, with four changes hindering the visitors’ usual fluency. On 12 minutes Stoke should have had the lead when an overlapping Erik Pieters pulled back for Diouf. The Senegal striker, just yards out, fell on his backside while scooping his shot into a relieved away end. It was a glorious opening.

Spurs’ only chance of the first half came when a lovely volleyed pass from Eriksen to Dele Alli was met with an even better flick to release Son Heung-min. The South Korean was denied by the feet of an onrushing Jack Butland.

On 52 minutes, presumably with an Argentine rocket in their ears, Spurs went ahead when Bruno Martins Indi’s poor pass was intercepted by the impressive Moussa Dembele, who released Alli with a precise through ball.

Alli took his time before intelligently pulling the ball back for Eriksen, whose drilled, rightfooter into the bottom corner across Butland was his fourth goal in his last three matches.

‘One-nil to the referee,’ was the chant from the aggrieved home support, who had claimed an earlier foul. They were not seething for long when, out of nowhere, came an equaliser.

There appeared to be no threat when Hugo Lloris raced off his line to meet Xherdan Shaqiri’s overhit pass but the Spurs keeper, who’s had a clanger in him recently, inexplicably hammered it right at Diouf.

The Stoke forward stayed on his feet to tap into an empty goal before theatrically collapsing to the turf clutching his face as the home support exploded out of their seats. To the surprise of nobody, Diouf was able to continue. To the surprise of nobody, Spurs were back in front when Eriksen curled in a free-kick missed by Kane and Butland. Stoke rallied and could have snatched an equaliser when Shaqiri curled his free-kick from the edge of the box over the wall and past Lloris, only to see it hit the bar. There was then anger when Diouf, with four Stoke men to aim for on a late counter, somehow found Spurs’ Jan Vertonghen.

Those shouts turned to cries of disbelief in injury time when the same player was announced as man of the match. ‘What were they thinking, dad?’ asked one youngster of the sponsors, who presumably had made the most of the hospitality, on his way out. He had a point.

Stoke, however, did not. Stoke (4-4-2): Butland 6; Johnson 6 (Crouch 79min, 5), Shawcross 6, Martins Indi 5.5, Pieters 6.5; Bauer 6.5 (Zouma 90), Allen 6, Ndiaye 6, Sobhi 6.5 (Campbell 69, 5); Shaqiri 7, Diouf 6. Booked: Johnson, Martins Indi, Pieters, Ndiaye. Subs (not used): Haugaard, Ireland, Cameron, Fletcher. tottenham (4-2-3-1): Lloris 5.5; Aurier 5.5, Sanchez 6.5, Vertonghen 6.5, Rose 6.5; Wanyama 6.5 (Dier 82), Dembele 7.5; Eriksen 7, Alli 6.5 (Sissoko 89), Son 6.5 (Lamela 67); Kane 6. Booked: Aurier, Rose, Kane. Subs (not used): Vorm, Llorente, Moura, Davies. Referee: G Scott 7.