Norwich City 0, Tottenham Hotspur 3: Pochettino cools Premier League title talk
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino shrugged of Premier League title talk despite seeing his side move to within five points of leaders Leicester with an assured victory over relegation-threatened Norwich last night.
The north London club’s principal match-winners delivered once more as Harry Kane notched twice, taking his tally to seven goals in eight top-flight matches – after teenager Dele Alli had netted the fourth quickest league goal this term.
A third successive league win moved Tottenham above north London rivals Arsenal into third, two points behind second-placed Manchester City and five adrift of Leicester. Spurs host Watford at White Hart Lane on Saturday.
“I think for me it is not important, the table at the moment is not important,” said Pochettino. “The feeling that we get from the team, this is the most important thing.
“We know that we can improve more because the potential is big. We are very young and the way that we train every day, the way we take every training session, it is important to do the same in the future.
“There are a lot of games ahead in different competitions. It’s important to keep working hard. The table is only to motivate us, for belief in the way we do things. For other things, I’m not sure the table is important today.”
Tottenham were quick out the blocks and opened the scoring inside two minutes when Christian Eriksen’s low, venomous shot was parried by Norwich goalkeeper Declan Rudd and Alli was on hand to calmly tap home the rebound from close range.
Spurs doubled their lead on the half-hour mark as Kane confidently converted from the penalty spot after Alli, who was substituted at half-time due to illness, had been fouled by former Spurs centre-half Sebastien Bassong as he sniffed a second goal.
Kane twice hit the post but rounded off the scoring in stoppage-time after Eriksen had pressurised and dispossessed Norwich full-back Martin Olsson and the prolific hitman made no mistake.
Tottenham have now gone 11 league games unbeaten away from home for the first time since a run of 16 in 1985.