Tottenham close gap on Leicester

Tottenham's Harry Kane (left) celebrates with Dele Alli (top) and Erik Lamela after scoring against Stoke City in their English Premier League match at the Britannia Stadium in Stoke-on-Trent on Monday. The Spurs won 4-0. (Photo: AP)

Star men Harry Kane and Dele Alli shared the goals as Tottenham Hotspur brilliantly beat Stoke City 4-0 on Monday to close the gap on Premier League leaders Leicester City to five points and keep their title hopes very much alive.

Spurs have just four more games to try and wipe out the deficit and claim their first league championship since they did the ‘Double’ in 1961.

Time may be against them but Mauricio Pochettino’s side made sure they maintained their pursuit of the Foxes with a fourth win in five league games.

Kane’s 26th goal of the season in all competitions set up a clinical victory, with the 22-year-old adding another to his tally in the second half in between two from England colleague Alli, who took his total for the campaign into double figures.

With Leicester dropping two points in their dramatic 2-2 draw against West Ham on Sunday and then learning on Monday that top scorer Jamie Vardy faces an increased ban for his sending off following a charge of improper conduct from the Football Association, Tottenham had the chance to really pile the pressure on the table-toppers with victory at the Britannia Stadium.

The north London side wasted no time in seizing the initiative in a breathless start which forced Stoke, who had previously not lost at home to any of the league’s other top-five clubs this season, onto the back foot. Veteran goalkeeper Shay Given, making his league debut two days before his 40th birthday, saved with his legs from Kane but with nine minutes gone was powerless to stop the Tottenham talisman putting his side ahead.

It was another special goal from Kane, who cut in from near the left touchline before curling a shot around Given and into the far corner to go clear of Vardy in the race to become the top-flight’s leading scorer with his 23rd league goal of the season and fifth in his last six games.