Kane: Spurs “on fire” after thrashing Stoke at Wembley

Tottenham Hotspur are back. That’s the report from Harry Kane, who scored a brace against the Potters en route to Spurs’ big 5-1 win at Wembley Stadium on Saturday. The win snapped a Premier League winless streak that goes back to Spurs’ match against Crystal Palace at the beginning of November.

Kane, speaking to the BBC after the match, said that Spurs were ready to compete today.

"That was what we needed. We had to get the first goal, we did that and that was it, we were on fire from there.

"It's strange, over the last couple of years we struggled against Stoke, but coming off a few bad results we were always going to be up for it.

"Son [Heung-Min] was very good. He got the first goal and it was a great finish for the second, that set us on our way and got everyone firing. We look forward to the busy period now."

So I’m not quite sure what Harry’s talking about considering heading into this match Spurs had won their past three meetings 4-0 vs. Stoke and haven’t dropped points since August of 2015, but whatever. It was a huge confidence boosting win for Tottenham, who like last season are hoping to use the crowded Christmas fixture list to position themselves for a top four finish.

Kane’s goals pushed him to 12 for the season, which ties him with Liverpool’s Mohammed Salah at the top of the Premier League scorer’s leaderboard. Kane had a couple of opportunities to get his third, but wasn’t able to do so.

Kane’s manager, Mauricio Pochettino, was also happy with his team’s dominant performance.

“We were waiting to be clinical in front of goal. We had a much better result than against Watford. I think today we were very clinical in front of goal. We created a lot of chances. I’m so pleased because we needed a win, three points, it was so important.

“I’m happy today because we got the win, the three points. That’s a few games (now) where we didn’t get what we deserve. I think today the team played well, a great victory, and that’s important for the next few games.”

Tottenham get a few days to rest before hosting Brighton on Wednesday. That match kicks off at 8 p.m. BST (3 pm ET).