Tottenham Hotspur emerged from their recent slump to demolish Stoke City 5-1 at Wembley in the Premier League on Saturday.
One win in five games had dropped Tottenham out of the title race, and out of the top four, but once Ryan Shawcross’s first-half own goal had given them the lead they proved unstoppable.
Son Heung-min slotted in Tottenham’s second after 53 minutes and Harry Kane, guilty of missing an earlier sitter just before the break, made it 3-0 a minute later before side-footing his second in the 65th minute to take his tally to 18 in all competitions this season.
Christian Eriksen weighed in with Tottenham’s fifth, following a Son pass, before Shawcross managed to score at the right end to give Stoke a consolation goal.
Tottenham are the first English club to beat a top-flight opponent by a four-goal margin four times in succession, having won the last three meetings 4-0.
Elsewhere, a superb equaliser by Jermain Defoe and a last-minute penalty save by Asmir Begovic gave Bournemouth a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace.
Defoe put Bournemouth ahead after 10 minutes when Andrew Surman crossed from the right into the middle of the box and the former England striker beat Julian Speroni with a shot into the bottom corner.
Three goals in four minutes then saw the teams go in level on 2-2 at half-time after Palace had equalised in the 41st with a Luka Milivojevic penalty after Begovic brought down Wilfried Zaha.
Palace went in front in the 44th with a goal from close range by substitute defender Scott Dann but Defoe restored parity with a superb added-time equaliser, lifting the ball from a tight angle on the right over Speroni and into the top far corner.
Begovic saved striker Christian Benteke’s last-minute penalty to leave Bournemouth in 14th place on 16 points with Palace returning to the foot of the table on 11.
Scott Arfield’s goal on the stroke of half-time meanwhile was enough to give seventh placed Burnley a 1-0 win over eighth placed Watford.
Pre-match snow made for wintry conditions at Turf Moor for the clash of two of the surprise packages of the season so far and it was Scottish-born Canadian international Arfield, in for the injured Robbie Brady, who rose to the occasion.
Iceland winger Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s low cross was well collected by Arfield who beat his marker and delivered a slick finish to beat Huerelho Gomes in the 45th minute.
Watford had been down to ten men from the 39th minute after Marvin Zeegelaar was shown a straight red for a wild challenge on Steven Defour. Burnley had two efforts disallowed for offside in the second half.
Huddersfield Town forward Steve Mounie struck twice in the first half as his side coasted to a 2-0 win over Brighton.
The Benin-born striker, who had not scored since netting a brace on the opening day of the season, ghosted in at the far post to bundle the ball home from Huddersfield’s first corner of the game in the 12th minute.
The 23-year-old, who arrived at Huddersfield from French side Montpellier in July, made it two with a header just before halftime as Brighton failed to clear another set piece.
Striker Wilfried Bony smashed home from close range with nine minutes left as Swansea defeated fellow strugglers West Bromwich Albion 1-0 for their first Premier League victory in nearly two months.
Ivorian Bony punished West Brom with an unstoppable drive after the visitors failed to clear a Swansea corner, ending Swansea’s seven-game run without a victory and lifting them off the bottom of the table.
Alan Pardew is still looking for his first win since taking charge of 17th-placed West Brom, who are winless in 14 games, with fixtures against Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal coming up.
