Kane, 22, opened the scoring for Spurs after 23 minutes with a fine turn and finish past West Ham goalkeeper Adrian, before Toby Alderweireld headed home a second 10 minutes later to put Spurs in a commanding lead.
Advertisement
The Spurs goalscorer was humbled for West Ham’s consolation goal, however, getting beaten by Manuel Lanzini’s stepover before the Argentine lashed in to deny Pochettino’s side a clean sheet.
The victory puts Tottenham four points behind surprise table-toppers Leicester, and with Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United all unconvincing in recent weeks, Pochettino’s side seem capable of keeping pace at the top.
The result leaves Tottenham with 24 points, two behind Arsenal and Manchester City, and West Ham in sixth with 21.
West Ham have won four of their six Premier League away matches this season; they had won just four of the previous 25.
“Today was a complete performance from the team”. We are very proud of the players, we congratulate them, there are a lot of positive things we can say today.
Kane was sharp up front, the midfield axis of Dele Alli, Eric Dier and Moussa Dembele dominated in midfield and the defense looked comfortable against a West Ham team that began the day equal on points with Spurs after its best start to a Premier League season.
So will Bilic opt for a different West Ham in terms of shape, or try to stick to the formula that has enabled his Payet-led side to compile the Premier League’s second-best away record (W4 D1 L1)? Jose Mourinho’s side – for how much longer it remains to be seen – couldn’t ask for many better fixtures than a home clash with Norwich as they bid to finally get the wheels turning, but it’s clearly too great a risk to go anywhere near them at 1/2.
“It’s unfortunate Enner and Dimi have got injured because they’re two important players for us – they’re game-changers”, he told Sky Sports.
Yet man of the match Kane, who has scored eight goals in his last five matches for Spurs in all competitions, was left cursing that he should have had a hat-trick, horribly miscuing another first-half chance.
Jan Vertonghen 7 – solid alongside Alderweireld yet again, the Belgian duo have an outstanding partnership which West Ham struggled to break down for most of the game.
More pushing and shoving followed later on and another Adrian save kept out what should have been a Spurs fourth from substitute Ryan Mason.
West Ham midfielder Alex Song is set to make his first appearance of the season after returning to training.
Advertisement
The teams last played in February this year and the game ended in a 2 – 2 draw. “It is like we are waiting for a big game”.
