LONDON, Jan 5: 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.
Villa salvage draw
Danny Ings came on as a substitute and scored late to help Aston Villa salvage a 1-1 draw against relegation-threatened Wolverhampton in the Premier League on Wednesday.
The veteran forward split two defenders and ran onto a ball over the top from Tyrone Mings before beating José Sá in the 78th minute at Villa Park.
In stoppage time, Leon Bailey collected another long ball and got past Sá but shot wide right. The Jamaica international was in tears after the whistle and was helped off the ground by teammates.
Daniel Podence scored early for Wolverhampton, which would have moved out of the bottom three with a victory.
The Portuguese winger slipped past Douglas Luiz and curled a left-footed shot into the far corner past goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, back in the starting lineup after helping Argentina win the World Cup, in the 12th minute.
Matheus Nunes then had a chance to double the lead but Martinez charged out and saved a low shot with his right leg.
Forest beat Southampton
Nottingham Forest climbed out of the Premier League’s relegation zone and left Southampton adrift in last place with a 1-0 win over its lowly rival on Wednesday.
Taiwo Awoniyi scored in the 27th minute at St. Mary’s, tapping the ball into an empty net after a cross from Brennan Johnson following Southampton defender Lyanco’s mistake.
It was Forest’s first away win of the season and only its second goal on its travels and lifted the team three places to 15th.
Southampton has lost all four of its league games since Nathan Jones was hired as manager as the replacement for the fired Ralph Hasenhuttl on Nov. 10. There were loud jeers at the final whistle
Leeds 2-2 Hammers
Rodrigo salvaged a point for Leeds in a 2-2 draw with fellow Premier League struggler West Ham on Wednesday.
The Spain forward powered home his 10th league goal of the season midway through the second half to deny West Ham a much-needed victory.
The Hammers were on course for their first league win since October after goals either side of halftime via Lucas Paqueta’s penalty and Gianluca Scamacca’s strike had canceled out teenager Wilfried Gnonto’s opener for Leeds.
The Hammers halted a run of five straight league defeats but is in fourth-to-last place and only out of the relegation zone on goal difference. Leeds is three points higher in 14th place.
Leeds, also a team in need of a lift after taking one point from its previous three matches, started well. (AP)
