Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in a 5-1 win as Tottenham brushed aside a dispirited Bournemouth after a scrappy game from goalkeeper Artur Boruc.
The Cherries’ custodian had a shocking game with a handful of mistakes leading to easy goals for Spurs, who had not shown the great football they know they can play.
An early goal from Matt Ritchie stunned a slow starting visiting side, but the North-Londoners gained momentum from their first goal, to score two more and end the half with a two goal advantage. A double within 15 minutes of the restart from Kane secured his second hat-trick for the Lilywhites.
In the ninth minute, a careless decision from goalkeeper Boruc to bring down Kane in the box resulted in the referre pointing to the spot and the Englishman rocketing the penalty past the goalkeeper, who was sent in the other direction. Mauricio Pochettino’s side made it 2-1 with a goal from Mousa Demebele, after a rebounded shot from a set piece fell to his feet and he knocked it back into the net.
Adding to Bournemouth’s misery, more poor goalkeeping led to a scrappy goal from Erik Lemela, who was left with a simple finish from close range. Boruc parried the ball straight out when he should have caught it, a mistake he made two or three times over the match.
At 3-1 down, the game looked dead and buried, but a burst of energy from the Cherries saw the ball cleared-off the line and Josh King hitting the post in the dying seconds of the first-half. The second began much the same, but a beautiful, swinging and difficult cross for the goalkeeper from Christian Erikson was slid past Boruc by Harry Kane. As Spurs eased into the game with a three goal cushion, the team began to play a more attractive passing style, dispiriting Eddie Howe’s home side and securing two more goals..
New boy Clinton N’Jie came on as a substitute and almost made an immediate impact, but Boruc produced a smart save at his near post to keep the game at 5-1.
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