Norwich City vs Tottenham Hotspur. Premier League.
Carrow RoadAttendance27,067.
Wednesday 3 February 2016 08:17, UK
Dele Alli once again excelled as Tottenham earned their third league win in a row with a 3-0 success at Norwich.
The result, which moves Spurs up to third, above bitter rivals Arsenal on goal difference, never looked in doubt right from the off as Alli gave the visitors the lead with less than two minutes on the clock.
The England midfielder was again in the thick of the action on the half-hour mark as he won a penalty, which Harry Kane converted, to double Spurs' lead.
Kane then completed the scoring to ensure Spurs kept their title hopes alive, while Norwich did little to alleviate their relegation fears after another meek display.
Mauricio Pochettino made seven changes to the side that won so easily at Colchester at the weekend, but a new-look Spurs settled very quickly, and soon took the lead.
With Norwich allowing him space to do so, Kane shifted the ball, fired at goal, Declan Rudd got down smartly in the Canaries' goal to keep it out, but Alli reacted quickest to tap home the rebound.
The hosts opted for the aerial route, but had limited success as Hugo Lloris was untroubled for much of the opening period.
Son Hueng-min darted across his man at the near post as Spurs went in search of a second, was picked out brilliantly by Kane, but he could only flick the ball wide on the run.
However, the second wasn't far away, with Alli again reacting first when Rudd had denied Kane from almost the exact same spot. This time Alli was clumsily bundled to the floor by Sebastien Bassong, leaving referee Kevin Friend little option but to give a penalty.
Kane sent Rudd the wrong way as he made no mistake on the half-hour mark, before Alli almost made it three with a glancing header.
The England midfielder was withdrawn at the break due to illness, and Spurs looked much less of a threat, content to sit back and allow Norwich to have possession in their own half.
Steven Naismith had Norwich's best effort of the match on 51 minutes as he glanced a header just past the post, with Lloris beaten.
Kane should have added his second after beating the offside trap with 10 minutes to go, but he saw his powerful strike come out off the inside of the post.
Nevertheless, in the 90th minute, Kane did get his second and Spurs' third from an identical position after Christian Eriksen had nicked the ball into his path, this time moving the ball onto his left foot before beating Rudd to complete the job in style.
Player Ratings
Norwich: Rudd (6); Pinto (6), Klose (5), Bassong (3), Olsson (4); Howson (5), Mulumbu (5), Tettey (5), Jarvis (5); Naismith (5); Mbokani (3).
Subs: Jerome (5), Odjidja (5).
Tottenham: Lloris (6), Walker (7), Alderweireld (7), Wimmer (7), Rose (6); Dembele (7), Dier (7); Alli (8), Eriksen (6), Son (6); Kane (8).
Subs: Carroll (6), Chadli (6), Lamela (na).
