Kane delivers a perfect antidote
Wanyama has added steel to allow Dembele to have even more influence than last year as he glides up and down the pitch. With Manchester City not in action this weekend, Tottenham moved to second in the Premier League and are now 10 points behind Chelsea with 12 games to go.
The next step for this Spurs side is a trophy and the FA Cup – which they return to next month against Millwall – is their only realistic chance of one this season.
But that did not stop Spurs giving a big reminder of their threat here, with Kane opening the scoring in the 14th minute, latching on to a loose ball in the penalty area and firing through a body of defenders.
His second came from an Eriksen to make it 4-0 just before half-time.
Kane is now level with top scorers Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) and Romelu Lukaku (Everton) on 17 Premier League goals in just 21 games – four fewer than both rivals.
And the England international admits that corner and was turned in from the edge of the box with a wonderful finish through the legs of team-mate Wanyama.
Kane sealed his hat-trick with a 25-yard free-kick that took a big deflection off Bruno Martins Indi but was on sometimes he feels unstoppable. “I was just trying to get my shots away,” he said.
“It was one of those days and I had a bit of luck with the third one [a deflection] but if you don’t shoot you don’t score, so I tried to hit a few off.”
Stoke manager Mark Hughes, who saw his side target, so will go down as his goal. He then turned provider with a wonderful flick over Martins Indi before driving towards the area to set up Alli. “I think at times we were a little bit awestruck,” said Hughes. “They gave too much respect to good players and as blown apart by Kane, thinks the support the striker gets from Alli and Christian Eriksen allows him to rip through opponents.
“He’s either taking chances or creating them for other people, or he’s involved in the creation of chances for himself,” said Hughes. “He’s always a consequence we were picked off.” Spurs were in cruise control for the second half but did threaten to add to their lead, with Stoke goalkeeper Lee Grant in superb form to keep the score down.
Toby Alderweireld hobbled off with an uncomfortablelooking injury and Jan Vertonghen was replaced, Pochettino saying both came off as a precaution.
But this was evidence, if any more was needed, that Spurs are the real deal at the moment and are only heading one way.
TOTTENHAM (5-4-1):
involved at the sharp end. He has great movement around him and that movement causes chaos in opposition defences, and he benefits from that.
“But he’s playing in a good team and he is a good player, and when it all clicks it is very difficult to stop when they are in that kind of form.”
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