Harry Kane hits hat-trick as Tottenham power past West Brom
Harry Kane hit a hat-trick as Tottenham cantered to their sixth straight Premier League win with a comfortable 4-0 victory over West Brom.
The Baggies had not lost at White Hart Lane since 2012 but will not remember their final visit fondly as Spurs ran them ragged for much of the contest to go second in the table.
Kane, who sat out the FA Cup win over Aston Villa after the birth of his first child, opened the scoring early on before Gareth McAuley's own goal put the hosts further ahead, with the new father rounding off his hat-trick with two goals in five minutes towards the end.
Many will see the impressive win as retribution for the 1-1 draw here in April which severely dented Tottenham's ultimately forlorn title hopes.
Albion goalkeeper Ben Foster produced a string of fine saves to prevent a true hammering for the visitors who, having battled bravely to narrow defeats at Chelsea and Arsenal recently, were never in this game.
There was a decent early chance for Kane but he failed to make meaningful contact on Danny Rose's cross, before firing a sighter high and wide moments later.
But it would be Kane who broke the deadlock as he swept home Christian Eriksen's pass having been played onside by Craig Dawson.
West Brom boss Tony Pulis was fuming as he felt the attack began from a blocked free-kick for the visitors, with the wall not the required distance away from the set-piece.
Kane went close to adding a second as he dived to meet Victor Wanyama's cross with a header but Foster managed to stop the ball crossing the line.
The lead was doubled from the next attack as Eriksen's shot took two deflections on its way past the England international, with McAuley the man who saw the unfortunate own goal chalked against his name.
Dele Alli thought he had scored an eighth goal in his last five Premier League outings but his smart finish on the half-hour mark was correctly ruled out for offside.
Kane should have wrapped the points up before the break but Foster did superbly to turn his close-range effort behind for a corner, and he was denied again moments later as he tipped a low drive onto the post.
West Brom had not threatened at all during the first half but Matt Phillips saw a shot whistle past the post soon after the interval - and that was as good as it got for Pulis' men.
Foster was soon back in the thick of the action, keeping out fierce strikes from both Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen - and another from Kane - as Spurs looked to kill the game.
But there was nothing the former Manchester United stopper could do to prevent Kane notching his second with 12 minutes remaining as he swept home Kyle Walker's cross.
And the England forward completed his hat-trick five minutes later as he exchanged passes with Alli to tuck away his 15th goal of the campaign and keep the pressure on their Premier League title rivals.
The only downside for Mauricio Pochettino's side was an apparent ankle injury to Vertonghen, who looked in some pain when he went off after 64 minutes.
Source : DSG
Source: DSG