Sunday, March 7, 2021 at 10:10 PM• Yanick Vos • Last update: 22:12

Tottenham Hotspur has three points left from the meeting with Crystal Palace on Sunday evening. At home, the team of manager José Mourinho was 4-1 too strong in a match where Gareth Bale and Harry Kane were the absolute stars. Kane is the first Tottenham player since Jürgen Klinsmann in 1998 to score twice and provide two assists in a Premier League game. Steven Bergwijn was back in the match selection after an absence of three matches in the competition, but remained on the bench for ninety minutes.

Tottenham took the initiative from kick-off and took the deserved lead after 25 minutes of play. The rear of Crystal Palace was put under pressure in the build-up and it was Lucas Moura who captured the ball high on the field. He sent Kane into the depths, who kept the overview and had an eye for Bale at the far post. For the latter it was a breeze to work the ball completely free-standing against the ropes. Roy Hodgson’s team did something back on the stroke of half time via Christian Benteke. Just before the half-time signal, he headed in the 1-1 on a pass from Luka Milivojevic.

In the second act, Tottenham distanced itself from Crystal Palace and it did so through Kane and Bale. The latter launched an attack on the right flank after 48 minutes and rushed into the penalty area. A high cross from the left flank ended up at the far post at Kane, who passed the head to Bale: 2-1. A few minutes later, Kane himself signed for the best goal of the evening. He saw goalkeeper Guaita a little too far in front of his goal and tried from a distance. With a placed shot in the intersection, he brought the margin to two.

Crystal Palace did not give up and in particular substitute Wilfried Zaha did everything to make it a match. Twenty minutes before the end he was close to the tying goal, but his shot ended up on the post. Then it was hit on the other side of the field. Heung-Min Son made his mark with an assist on Kane: 4-1. The game was over and Mourinho saw that too; the trainer took Bale and Kane to the side. Climbing through victory the Spurs from eighth to sixth place in the ranking.