Tottenham Hotspur held on to secure a 2-1 win away at Queens Park Rangers in a lively Premier League clash at Loftus Road this afternoon.
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The hosts made a bright start and tested their opponents two minutes in, with Bobby Zamora nodding a header towards goal that forced Hugo Lloris to scramble across his line and tip over the bar.
Tottenham pushed forward and, in the sixth minute, saw Kyle Walker whip a pinpoint cross towards Harry Kane, whose header was bravely kept out by Robert Green.
Mauricio Pochettino's charges built up a dominance in midfield, but were nearly caught out in the 20th minute when Walker's poor backpass gave Charlie Austin a chance to open the scoring for QPR, only for Lloris to come to the rescue.
The mistake spurred the hosts on and they enjoyed a bright spell as Austin's first-time pass found Matty Phillips, who fired narrowly wide from distance.
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On the half-hour mark, QPR came even closer to breaking the deadlock when Austin's thumping drive ricocheted off the Spurs post.
Despite QPR's dominance, it was the visitors who opened the scoring 34 minutes in, as the prolific Harry Kane latched onto Andros Townsend's inswinging free kick to head past an onrushing Green.
Five minutes before the break, the hosts appealed for a penalty when Lloris appeared to catch Mauricio Isla after Steven Caulker lifted the ball into the Spurs box, but the referee waved play on.
The first half ended with a flurry of action from both sides and, after the restart, Christian Eriksen smashed a 20-yard effort against Green's post, before Kane sliced the rebound over.
Spurs were in the ascendency and duly doubled their tally in the 68th minute, with livewire Kane notching his 26th goal of the season when he rounded Green and poked the ball into an empty net.
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The hosts could have given up at this point, but former Spurs man Sandro gave QPR a glimmer of hope midway through the second half when he placed a shot into the bottom corner.
More penalty controversy was to follow as, moments later, Caulker's header appeared to strike the hand of Nabil Bentaleb, prompting penalty shouts from QPR which the referee turned down once again.
Junior Hoilett was next to try his luck for Chris Ramsey's charges, but the Canadian's shot flew high above the crossbar.
Spurs were ultimately able to see the game out and secure the win which puts them sixth in the Premier League table and just three points behind fourth-placed Manchester United, while QPR remain in the bottom three.
Giuseppe Labellarte
