Tottenham 3 Norwich City 0: Kane at the double for Pochettino´s men

Harry Kane scored twice in the first half as Tottenham boosted their hopes of a top-four finish in the Premier League with a 3-0 win over Norwich City.

Kane broke the deadlock from the penalty spot after 26 minutes before doubling both his and Tottenham’s tally just before the interval with a low drive from a tight angle.

Substitute Tom Carroll added a third in the 80th minute, getting his first Premier League goal with a well-struck shot from outside the area.

The emphatic result at White Hart Lane means Mauricio Pochettino’s side sit two points clear of Crystal Palace in fourth place.

Norwich, meanwhile, find themselves perched precariously above the relegation zone after Swansea City’s victory at home to West Brom. If Newcastle manage to avoid defeat at home to Everton later on Saturday, Alex Neil’s side will drop into the bottom three.

Looking to record their first Premier League win in a Boxing Day fixture at the sixth attempt, the visitors had actually made a bright start.

Home goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was forced to turn away long-range shots from Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe and Robbie Brady, while Cameron Jerome headed over the crossbar from a corner.

However, the visitors gifted Tottenham the chance to take the lead when Declan Rudd lost the race with Kane to a Dele Alli throughball to concede a penalty.

Referee Mike Jones pointed to the spot after the Norwich goalkeeper’s sliding challenge upended the England striker, allowing Kane to break the deadlock from 12 yards out.

Rudd redeemed himself to a degree with an acrobatic save to keep out a Toby Alderweireld header, but he was unable to stop Kane doubling Tottenham’s advantage three minutes before half-time.

Despite having little goal to aim at on the right of the area, the striker was allowed the time and space to get off a shot that ended up in the far corner of the net.

The final margin of victory would have been even greater had it not been for Rudd in the second half.

He rushed from his line to block an effort from Alli, while Erik Lamela was denied just after the hour when his cheeky rabona shot was tipped over the top.

Norwich barely threatened at the other end of the field, though Lloris did have to be alert to a bouncing ball over the top that he punched away from Jerome.

Any slim hopes of a comeback were finally extinguished when Carroll – on in place of Eriksen – found a way to beat Rudd, and the visitors were even denied a late consolation by a fine double save from Lloris.