West Brom 0 Tottenham Hotspur 3, match report: Harry Kane at the double as Spurs march on

Harry Kane is the Tottenham Hotspur fan living the dream and now the club’s first player to score 20 goals in a season since Gareth Bale. Kane’s remarkable progress shows no signs of halting and the leading scorer in the country is surely nailed on for a place in the England squad for next month’s qualifier against Lithuania.

There were two more goals here, enabling him to reach his 20-goal target last achieved by Bale two seasons ago, and with him in this form anything is possible for Spurs.

Days after booking a date at Wembley for the Capital One Cup final, this was another formidable statement of intent to trash Tony Pulis’s unbeaten record with West Bromwich Albion.

The victory lifted Spurs above Arsenal into fifth place and those dark days earlier in the season under Mauricio Pochettino seem light years ago now. “We do not talk about the top four but it is obviously possible if we are consistent,” said the Spurs head coach. “Harry is getting better all the time and I always think young players can improve. Whenever strikers score goals it is good for the team. He wants to stay at Tottenham and we want him to stay a long time with us.”

Spurs were ahead here after just six minutes. Pulis must have warned his players against conceding free-kicks 25 yards from goal, with Christian Eriksen proving so deadly from distance this season. But Claudio Yacob’s foul on Mousa Dembélé presented the Dane with the opportunity to add another excellent set piece to his collection.

This latest effort was similar to the guided missile against Sheffield United in midweek as he arrowed a fierce shot into the top corner despite the attempts of Ben Foster. It was the first league goal scored against Pulis since his appointment but a rampant Spurs doubled their lead after 15 minutes. Kane was given far too much room to advance into the penalty area, escaping Andre Wisdom before driving his shot past Foster, who did not move. Albion were shell-shocked but then recovered and could easily have turned the game on its head, had it not been for the brilliance of Hugo Lloris.

After 25 minutes of inactivity, the Spurs goalkeeper was then pressed into action, tipping over James Morrison’s curler before diving superbly to his right to prevent Yacob’s close-range effort from crossing the line. Craig Dawson then headed against the crossbar as Spurs’ grip on the game loosened, with Pulis watching on mystified from the technical area.

Albion’s failure to take any of those chances always looked costly and so it proved in the 63rd minute, when Kane put the game out of sight from the spot after Joleon Lescott handed Kyle Walker’s cross.

Pulis’s team remain three points above the dreaded dotted line and he will be burning the midnight oil before Monday’s deadline.

“We need to bring a few players in to help the group and if we do I’ll be happy,” he said.

West Brom (4-4-1-1): Foster 5; Wisdom 5 (Gardner 60 5), McAuley 6, Dawson 6, Lescott 5; McManaman 6 (Ideye 60 4), Morrison 5 (Dorrans 88), Yacob 7, Brunt 5; Berahino 5, Anichebe 5. Subs Rose (g), Baird, Pocognoli, Sessegnon. Booked: Berahino, Yacob.

Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1): Lloris 7; Walker 7, Fazio 6, Vertonghen 7, Rose 6; Mason 7 (Stambouli 74), Paulinho 8; Lamela 7, Dembele 6 (Chadli 62), Eriksen 8; Kane 8 (Soldado 88). Subs Vorm (g), Dier, Townsend, Davies. Booked: Lamela

Referee: Kevin Friend