Tottenham Hotspur have closed the gap on Premier League leaders Leicester City to five points courtesy of a convincing 4-0 victory over Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium this evening.
Harry Kane and Dele Alli both scored twice to ensure that Spurs capitalised on the Foxes' Sunday slip-up to keep their title dream alive with four games of the season remaining.
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There was a chance for Kane just seven minutes in when he drifted away from Ryan Shawcross and was found by Erik Lamela, but the striker's first touch let him down and his eventual effort was blocked.
He wouldn't have to wait long for the opening goal, though, as it arrived just two minutes later when he cut inside from the left flank and curled a inch-perfect finish into the bottom corner from the edge of the box, leaving Stoke keeper Shay Given with no chance.
It was Kane's 23rd league goal of the season as he regained his place as the outright top-scorer in the division following Jamie Vardy's strike against West Ham United on Sunday.
Stoke slowly began to work their way into the match and enjoyed a good spell around the half-hour mark that saw Marko Arnautovic sting the palms of Hugo Lloris before glancing a header narrowly wide moments later.
Bojan Krkic also threatened as the hosts searched for an equaliser, but he got his effort all wrong from just inside the area, firing well off target.
Spurs were soon back on top, though, and a dangerous attack with 10 minutes remaining of the half saw Stoke survive a dangerous Kane cross and a blocked Kyle Walker strike before Mousa Dembele drove a 25-yard piledriver narrowly off target.
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It should have been 2-0 with only three minutes remaining of the first half when Alli's flick sent Christian Eriksen clean through on goal, but the Dane saw his effort smash against the crossbar with only Given to beat.
There was another sight of goal for Kane before the half was through, but the England man dragged his effort wide and it was Stoke who started the second half brighter, with Ibrahim Afellay sending two shots off target in the opening minutes.
Once again, though, Stoke's time in the ascendency was short-lived and Tottenham began to create chances of their own soon afterwards, with Danny Rose slipping at the vital moment inside the area and Alli firing over when he should have done better.
It was counter-attacks that were doing the most damage for the visitors, and Lamela should have done better from another lightning break when he went for goal from a tight angle instead of rolling the ball to Kane in the middle.
The second goal did finally arrive with just over 20 minutes remaining as Eriksen sent a defence-splitting pass through the middle for Alli, who kept his composure to chip a finish over the onrushing Given.
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The youngster should have doubled his personal tally just three minutes later too, but having applied such a cool finish moments before he somehow hit the post with the goal gaping after he had taken the ball past the Stoke keeper.
Spurs did have a third shortly after, though, as Alli sent a pass through for Lamela, who unselfishly squared the ball for Kane when he only had Given to beat, leaving the striker with a simple finish for his 24th of the season.
Alli was even able to spare his own blushes by making up for his miss with his second of the night eight minutes from time as he steered a well-controlled volley into the bottom corner from Eriksen's clipped pass.
From then it was simply a case of seeing the game out for Spurs as they cruised to three vital points, becoming the first team in the top five to win at the Britannia Stadium this season.
In addition to moving within five points of Leicester, the win also takes Spurs eight clear of Manchester City and Arsenal and to within one game of securing a Champions League place for next season.
Stoke, meanwhile, have now conceded four goals in both of their last two league games and have only won one of their last six outings in the top flight.
Barney Corkhill
