Harry Kane’s quickfire double helped Tottenham get back on track with a 4-0 victory over Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Wednesday. Kane scored in the 48th and 53rd minutes to change the momentum after a strong first half from Palace.
Goals from Matt Doherty and Son Heung-min extended the visitors’ advantage as they picked up their first victory since the Premier League resumed after the World Cup break. They had drawn at Brentford and lost at home to Aston Villa.
Kane’s two strikes brought his Tottenham total to 264, just two short of Jimmy Greaves’ club record, while his opener ended a run of 10 successive games in which Spurs conceded the first goal.
Fifth-place Tottenham moved five points clear of sixth-place Liverpool and two points behind both Newcastle and Manchester United, who are in third and fourth, respectively. United has a game in hand.
Palace’s first-half performance earned a round of applause from their fans as the players walked down the tunnel, but it was all undone within three minutes of the restart when Kane nodded in Ivan Perisic’s left-wing cross from close range.
Kane doubled his tally and Spurs’ lead when the ball fell to Bryan Gil on the right and he flicked a pass to the England captain, who took one touch and shot quickly to send a low strike into the bottom left corner.
Son’s cross inadvertently found its way to Doherty inside the area and the Ireland international made it 3-0 in the 68th minute when his low effort was too strong for goalkeeper Vicente Guaita.
It was not long before Son got on the scoresheet himself, beating Marc Guehi to Kane’s high ball and firing into the bottom corner via a deflection.
Spurs recorded their first clean sheet since October.