Tottenham 4-1 Crystal Palace: Harry Kane and Gareth Bale score doubles in stylish Spurs victory

Harry Kane set up two goals for Gareth Bale and scored two himself as a stylish Spurs beat Crystal Palace 4-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Bale continued his resurgence by scoring the opener, tapping home Kane's cross (25), but Palace hit back out of nowhere through Christian Benteke's superb header from Luka Milivojevic's delivery (45+1).

Spurs upped the ante after the break, regaining their lead through Bale's sixth goal in six games, scoring with a close-range header from another Kane assist, his 14th in the Premier League this season (49), before Kane got in on the act with a brilliant double.

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First, Kane curled a stunning, sweeping effort into the top-left corner from the edge of the box (52), before simply finishing off a fine team move from Heung-Min Son's unselfish centre (76).

While Bale continues his resurgence, Spurs' talisman Kane has now directly been involved in 40 goals in 36 games in all competitions this season (23 goals and 16 assists), the most of any player for a Premier League club.

The result means Spurs move up to sixth, just two points off the top four with 11 games remaining, while Palace are 13th, eight points above the drop zone.

How Spurs breezed past Palace to set up top-four assault

Spurs started well and dominated the play in the first half, and could have taken the lead as early as the seventh minute as Bale's cross found Son, but his free header was straight at Vicente Guaita.

Palace briefly got into shape, but shot themselves in the foot as Milivojevic was robbed by livewire Lucas Moura; Kane took over, got into the box and squared across the face of goal for Bale to tap home at the far post.

Spurs looked most likely to score the next goal, getting a confident Bale into the game at every opportunity, but Palace hit back on the stroke of half-time with their first effort on goal.

Milivojevic, the culprit for Spurs' opener, found Benteke in the box with a perfect left-footed cross from the left, and the Belgian striker leapt brilliantly before powering a header into the top corner. It was only Palace's second touch in the Spurs box in the first half.

Palace looked to pounce by bringing on Wilfried Zaha at half-time, but Spurs killed the game off with a quick-fire double from a familiar threat.

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After Sergio Reguilon's deep cross was headed back across goal by Kane, Bale arrived at the back post to head past Guaita from six yards.

Having only scored four goals in his first 16 appearances for Tottenham this season in all competitions, Bale has since scored six in his last six games for Spurs.

But Spurs' third was the best of the lot. Kane, 20 yards from goal on the right, received Matt Doherty's pass, and curled an unstoppable, sweeping effort into the opposite corner, a definite contender for goal of the month.

Zaha hit the post with a left-footed effort from range as Palace threatened to halve the deficit, but if Kane's first showed his individual brilliance, his second was more for the team.

After latching onto a diagonal on the right, the impressive Moura squared for sub Erik Lamela, whose deft pass over the defence found Son free at the back post. The South Korean, an unlikely gooseberry up until then, unselfishly squared for Kane, who headed into the empty net.

Jose Mourinho wore the widest smile after that goal, and Spurs' third straight Premier League win leaves them primed for an assault on the top four with a north London derby coming next.

What the managers said...

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Spurs boss Jose Mourinho: "After three victories in the same week. If the stats I was given are correct - 100 goals scored in the season, which for a very defensive team, a very negative team, is not bad.

"Playing with happiness, with good self-esteem, we have lots of qualities. Of course it is a privilege to have such a very good group of players.

"It was a good week for us. Three matches, nine points, and for next week when we play a crucial match in the Europa, and against Arsenal, nothing could be better for us than to win nine points this week."

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Palace boss Roy Hodgson: "We felt we were back in the game at half-time but those two goals early in the second half - goals of great quality - it was always going to be difficult.

"It's good to see Christian Benteke getting in that position. We've tried to encourage him to get in the centre. As Harry Kane said to me after the game they took their chances very well.

"I'd rather be in our position than Fulham's. Eight points might not sound very much but it takes a lot of getting. I'm not concerned in that respect but I'm aware if you are not careful and think your work is done you can easily lose game after game."

'Bale now looks like what we expected'

Chris Coleman on Sky Sports:

"It's what we were expecting from Bale now, when he first arrived from Real Madrid. Maybe some were a bit hasty in their judgment as he was obviously not match fit, and has taken him some time.

"Every time I watched him play up until two weeks ago, it looked like his first game back. He didn't have the rhythm or the spring in his step, but now he looks like the player we expected to arrive.

"He's getting better and better and is looking stronger and stronger. Another good night for Gareth."

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Player reaction: 'I'm not 21 anymore!'

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Tottenham's Gareth Bale told Sky Sports:

"I enjoyed it massively - it's why I came here. The attacking players we have are amazing. Not just the ones who played tonight, but the others on the bench. We're all pushing each other, and it's nice to get the three points again.

"There's a lot of fighting for places, so you have to keep on your toes and keep working hard, but we're in a good moment now. We've got the confidence back and hopefully we can keep it going.

On playing with Kane: "It's fantastic, he's an incredible striker as he showed again tonight. He's been so consistent. It was a fantastic performance again from him and we're happy to have him here."

On his own form: "It feels good. It takes a bit of time sometimes but I'm experienced enough to be patient. It is what it is. Time will tell [if I can get back to my best], but I'm not 21 anymore. I'm just going to keep working hard every game.

"Your body changes over time. You've not got the youthfulness where you can recover quickly after sprinting for 90 minutes, but you learn about your body as you get older and that's what I'm having to do."

Souness surprised by Bale admission

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Sky Sports' Graeme Souness on Bale:

"I was disappointed with some of the things he said there. He's 32 in July. I played my best football when I was 31. I was strongest when I was 30. Of course, he's not 21, but he's talking like he's an old man - he's not.

"What an example he played with for years and years in [Cristiano] Ronaldo whose 35 and still at it. He's a worldie, and he should be doing the opposite of that and saying what he's going to do and how fabulous he's going to be.

"These talents don't come along very often. He's got ridiculous ability. He's been on the bench a lot at Spurs this time around. If you're on the bench, you're alright to play some part in games...

"I remember having a conversation six weeks ago... if I'm him, I'm knocking on the manager's door saying I'm ready. We saw pictures of him smiling on the bench. He's been here all season, and I expected more from him. I'm an enormous fan of him, and I just want to see more of him.

"Those words he came out and said at the end there... we've all been 31. Your career finishes too quickly when you're a footballer. I'd like him to have a pint of enthusiasm."

"Crystal Palace, Fulham, Burnley... Wolfsberger... I want to see that against the big teams as well. You cannot ignore the fact that he's not playing in Real Madrid's first-team now. Madrid wanted to see the back of him.

"Why would a manager like Zinedine Zidane, who knows football inside out, who would know a great player when he sees one... why wouldn't he want him?

"Any manager would want Gareth Bale in their team, so there has to be a reason for it. He didn't seem too bothered if he was playing or not. There has to be a reason right now why he's not starting for Madrid."

Opta stats

• Only league leaders Manchester City (35) have earned more points at home in this season's Premier League than Tottenham Hotspur (24).
• Tottenham's fourth goal was their 100th in all competitions this season, becoming the second club in Europe's big-five leagues to reach that tally in 2020-21, after Bayern Munich (106).
• Tottenham's Gareth Bale has scored in each of his last three home appearances in all competitions, the first time he has done so since September 2018 for Real Madrid (four in a row), and first time for Spurs since May 2013.
• Harry Kane was the first Spurs player to score 2+ goals and make 2+ assists in a Premier League game since Jurgen Klinsmann v Wimbledon in May 1998 (4 goals, 2 assists).
• Tottenham duo Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son have now assisted one another for 14 Premier League goals this season, breaking Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton's all-time competition record of 13 set in 1994-95 for Blackburn.

What's next?

Tottenham now host Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League last-16 first leg on Thursday at 8pm, followed by a trip to bitter rivals Arsenal on Super Sunday, live on Sky Sports Premier League at 4.30pm.

Palace host West Brom on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Premier League at 3pm on March 13.

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