Harry Kane put his recent goalscoring woes behind him as he scored a hat-trick during Tottenham Hotspur's 5-1 victory away at Bournemouth this afternoon.
England international Kane found the net 31 times in all competitions last term, but he headed down to the South Coast with just one Premier League goal to his name from nine outings. However, come the final whistle at Dean Court, the 22-year-old left the field with the match ball under his arm having helped his side to extend their unbeaten run in the top flight to nine games.
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Yet, it all started so well for the home side, who have now collected only one point from a possible 12. There was just 49 seconds on the clock when winger Matt Ritchie fired beyond Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to score what was the quickest goal of the season to date.
But, from that moment onwards the visiting North Londoners were the dominant force. Kane drew them level in the ninth minute from the penalty spot after he had been brought down by Bournemouth goalkeeper Artur Boruc. Mousa Dembele then made it 2-0 eight minutes later in a crowded box, before Erik Lamela capitalised on an error from Boruc to tap in from close range.
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In fairness to the Cherries, they rallied towards the end of the first half and created two good openings to reduce the arrears. First, Marc Pugh saw his effort cleared off the line by Toby Alderweireld and then Josh King's low strike cannoned to safety off the upright.
Those failings ended up being costly ones because in the 56th minute Kane struck for a second time to put the game out of Bournemouth's reach. Christian Eriksen picked out the striker at the back post with a lofted cross, which he duly dispatched.
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Then, his treble was completed just six minutes later, with Boruc again at fault. The Polish keeper could only parry Alderweireld's header straight to Kane, who rolled the rebound in from six yards out.
The scoreline could have been even more in Tottenham's favour had Eriksen's 67th-minute curling effort not struck the post, but as it was, Mauricio Pochettino's men had to settle for a four-goal winning margin which has moved them up sixth, while Bournemouth drop to 17th position.
Liam Apicella
