Norwich City 0-3 Tottenham: Spurs win again to leapfrog Arsenal

Posted Wednesday, February 03, 2016 by goal.com

Mauricio Pochettino's young side moved up to third in the Premier League table thanks to a routine victory at Carrow Road, with Dele Alli and Harry Kane both netting

Tottenham moved above Arsenal into third place in the Premier League as a brace from Harry Kane and one from Dele Alli clinched a 3-0 victory away at struggling Norwich City.

As his fine breakthrough season continued, Alli opened the scoring after just two minutes at Carrow Road when he converted a rebound, while he also played a part in his side's second goal.

The midfielder was fouled in the area by former Tottenham defender Sebastien Bassong, offering the chance for Kane to double the advantage from the penalty spot on the half-hour mark.

Kane struck the woodwork in either half, but he was not to be denied a second as he swept home a confident finish in the final minute as Spurs went above their north London rivals, who drew 0-0 at home to Southampton.

Norwich, who had a goal disallowed in the second half, have now recorded just one win in all competitions in 2016 so far. They will drop into the bottom three if Newcastle United record a win at Everton on Wednesday.

Tottenham, in contrast, are only looking up. They have still not lost away from home in the league since the opening day of a season that sees them still fighting for honours on three fronts at the start of February.

Spurs did not need long to take the lead. Although goalkeeper Declan Rudd did well to turn away Christian Eriksen's low shot, Alli was on hand to tap home the loose ball and score his fifth goal in his side's last six league games away from White Hart Lane.

When he was the quickest to react to Kane's saved shot, Alli looked a certainty to double both his and Tottenham's tally. But, after taking a touch to set up a shooting opportunity, the England international was clipped by Bassong.

The defender's indiscretion against one of his old teams instead was punished by Kane, who had also scored twice against Norwich on December 26. Only a post denied the striker from matching that feat before the break.

Alli wasted a chance to get himself a second goal when he fluffed his header from Danny Rose's left-wing cross and the midfielder did not appear after the interval, as he was replaced by Nacer Chadli due to illness.

Norwich's only real shot of note in the first half came from Dieumerci Mbokani, but his right-footed effort from just inside the area was easily dealt with by visiting goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

The home team did have a shout for a penalty of their own before the break, but referee Kevin Friend decided there was nothing wrong with Kevin Wimmer's rather clumsy aerial challenge on Steven Naismith.

An official was again the source of frustration for Norwich early in the second period, as the referee's assistant ruled out a potential goal for offside when Bassong looked to have halved the deficit.

Deprived of an early second-half goal, Norwich never threatened a comeback against the tightest defence in the top flight and Kane rubbed salt in their wounds by scoring Tottenham's third at the death, the England international coolly converting having seen an effort strike the left upright shortly beforehand.