Tottenham kept up their pursuit of Premier League leaders Chelsea as
some brilliant first-half finishing set up a dazzling 4-0 win over
Watford at White Hart Lane.
Top scorer Harry Kane was back on the bench from an ankle injury
absence to see deputy Vincent Janssen add to his catalogue of painful
misses before Dele Alli magnificently opened the scoring with his 16th
league goal of the season.
England colleague Eric Dier and Son Heung-min joined in the fun with
similarly emphatic strikes from outside the box, although Watford boss
Walter Mazzarri will lament poor closing down on the first and third
Spurs goals.
Watford appeared simply helpless as they were cut open for Son to add
a sumptuous fourth, their ambitions of stringing together three
consecutive top-flight wins for the first time this season having long
since evaporated.
It amounted to a far more assured route to victory for Mauricio
Pochettino's side than the remarkably frantic midweek comeback at
Swansea City and cut Chelsea's advantage at the summit to four points,
at least until Antonio Conte's men face Bournemouth in Saturday's late
kick-off.
Janssen almost had his first Premier League goal from open play when
he cleverly spun Craig Cathcart in the ninth minute, forcing Heurelho
Gomes to save with his legs.
It was an assured start from Walter Mazzarri's side, but they should
have fallen behind in the 19th minute when Janssen's combination of
dwindling confidence and wretched luck came to their aid.
Kieran Trippier stunned a volley across the face of goal and,
although the Netherlands international was partially unsighted by
Watford defender Adrian Mariappa, Janssen inexplicably managed to hit
the crossbar after the ball spun up off his thigh two yards from goal.
Shortly afterwards, the outstretched and beleaguered striker failed
to get the decisive touch on another dangerous Trippier cross, while he
strayed needlessly offside following a fine run and pass from Alli.
The England midfield stunningly took matters into his own hands in
the 33rd minute, exchanging passes with Son before arching a dipping
effort over Gomes and into the top corner.
Son was involved once more in the 39th minute when his deflected
cross fell kindly for Dier to venomously rifle home from the edge of the
area, and the South Korea winger got in on the act to effectively end
the contest before half-time.
Christian Eriksen seized upon a poor headed clearance from Cathcart
to feed Son, who was allowed to advance towards the area and unleash a
crisp left-footed shot from 25 yards into the bottom corner, moving into
double figures in the Premier League this term.
Tottenham's dominance made for a carnival atmosphere in this
sun-drenched corner of north London that Son's second ramped up even
further.
Eriksen slipped a pass to the overlapping Trippier, whose delivery
was again impeccable for the on-rushing Son to convert a crisp
half-volley.
Janssen's anomalous run within Pochettino's swashbuckling squad will
continue, as Kane returned to a hero's welcome in the 61st minute.
He rounded Gomes on the end of Trippier's lofted pass but Kane's shot
lacked power and he was agonisingly close to heading in 13 minutes from
time.
Kane turned provider as Son missed out on the matchball – slotting
wide when it appeared easier to score and the former Bayer Leverkusen
man also had time to clip the bar.
It did not take away from a brilliant all-round Spurs display, with
Kane clattering the bar from a free-kick in stoppage time as he sought a
show-stopping finale to their sixth straight league win.
No comments: