Sport/ Football

Milestone man Harry Kane keeps Spurs in the hunt in Premier League title race

England forward scores his 20th goal for Tottenham in the current domestic campaign to keep the pressure on leaders Chelsea

Agence France-Presse

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Published: 10:53pm, 15 Apr, 2017

Updated: 12:31am, 16 Apr, 2017

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Harry Kane scores Tottenham’s third goal in their 4-0 win over Bournemouth at White Hart Lane. Photo: Reuters

Harry Kane scored his 20th goal of the English Premier League campaign as Tottenham Hotspur crushed Bournemouth 4-0 on Saturday to cut Chelsea’s advantage at the summit to four points.

Mousa Dembele, Son Heung-min and Vincent Janssen were also on target on a sunny spring afternoon at White Hart Lane that saw Spurs record seven successive league wins for the first time since 1967.

“It’s good to be consistent as a striker,” Kane said.“I want to do that year in, year out. We’ve still got plenty to do this season, so I don’t want to think about it.”

Kane scored in the 48th minute, beating Simon Francis with a neat turn before crashing a low shot past Artur Boruc.

It was his first goal since he made his return from a four-week lay-off with ankle ligament damage and left him three goals below Everton’s Romelu Lukaku in the scoring chart.

Son Heung-min scores Tottenham’s second goal against Bournemouth. Photo: Reuters

“It was great to be back out there,” Kane said. “I missed being out there. The guys have been winning comfortably and I had to put in a good shift.”

Chelsea responded last weekend after Spurs had trimmed their lead, beating Bournemouth 3-1, but Antonio Conte’s men face a less than straightforward trip to Manchester United on Sunday.

“Our job was to get three points and we got three points,” said Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino.

“Now if they [Chelsea) fail, we’re there. Now the pressure is on Chelsea to try to win at Old Trafford.”

Spurs’ Harry Kane (right) celebrates with teammates after scoring. Photo: AFP

Spurs appear the only team capable of denying Chelsea the title and will get a chance to measure themselves against the leaders in next weekend’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.

Kane, 23, is the first Spurs player to have scored at least 20 league goals in three successive seasons since the great Jimmy Greaves in the late 1960s.

In another milestone, Spurs have now won 12 consecutive home games in the top flight within the same season for the first time in their history.

Tottenham's Dele Alli is confronted by Bournemouth's Adam Smith and Harry Arter. Photo: Reuters

While Bournemouth remain seven points above the relegation zone, they will watch this weekend’s remaining games involving the teams below them with a degree of anxiety.

“We know we need more. We’ve known all along,” said beaten manager Eddie Howe.

“The danger is if everyone says, ‘You’re safe’. We’ve got to focus the players’ minds that we’re not.”

Crystal Palace fought back in a 2-2 draw with Leicester, Everton beat Burnley 3-1, Stoke accounted for Hull 3-1, Sunderland snatched a 2-2 draw with West Ham while Watford edged Swansea 1-0.