Hull City vs. Tottenham Hotspur: final score 1-7, Spurs catch the Tigers by the tail

Tottenham Hotspur finished off a remarkable 2016-17 Premier League season with a 7-1 thumping of Hull City at the KCOM Stadium on Sunday. Harry Kane led all scorers with his fifth hat trick of the season, with Dele Alli, Victor Wanyama, Ben Davies, and Toby Alderweireld all adding to the scoreline. Sam Clucas got the consolation goal for Hull.

Spurs started with a strong lineup: Kane, Alli, and Son Heung-Min all started up top with their first-choice defense of Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Davies, and Kieran Trippier, who returned to the side after a concussion last week. Wanyama and Eric Dier were in the midfield pivot, and Hugo Lloris started the match in goal.

Hull manager Marco Silva handed starts to a number of his bench players in this, their last Premier League match before relegation back to the Championship, and the Tigers were outmatched from the very beginning.

In fact, it took Spurs only 13 minutes to go up two minutes, with Harry Kane notching a quick brace. His first came in the 11th minute with a vintage Harry Kane goal from just outside the box — Kane struck it low to the left corner, his favorite place to shoot, and slotted it past David Marshall.

Then two minutes later, Kane got his second. Eric Dier put a cross-field ball to Kieran Trippier on the left wing, who easily tapped it to a surging Kane in the box. It was a simple tap-in for Kane, who went four goals ahead of Everton’s Romelu Lukaku in the race for the Golden Boot.

After that, Spurs took their foot off the gas somewhat, but it was still all Spurs. They kept ahold of the ball, stringing double-digit passes on a couple of possessions, and rarely let Hull out of their own half.

Spurs had a few chances to get their third with Marshall making a couple of saves, but it was Dele Alli who finally broke through, firing home the simplest of finishes two minutes into extra time to put Spurs up 3-0.

Hull City managed only one shot in the first half, and it was off-target.

The second half was more of the same, but Hull did have a few moments of relative not-so-badness. With nothing to lose, Hull brought on Kamil Grosicki and tried to increase the tempo to nick a goal. That led to a number of Hull City counterattacks and half chances.

And Hull finally got through Spurs’ defense in the 67th minute: Omar Niasse had a shot that was deflected away, but the rebound fell to Sam Clucas who fired past Hugo to get Hull on the scoreboard. The goal was essentially meaningless in the overall match, but meant that Lloris would not share the Premier League Golden Glove with Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois.

It didn’t take Spurs long to start scoring again, though. Just two minutes later, Christian Eriksen fired in a gorgeous free kick to the back post. Victor Wanyama was completely unmarked and poked a header past Marshall to put Spurs up 4-1. Replays showed Wanyama was offside, but Andre Marriner allowed the goal to stand.

And Harry Kane still wasn’t done! Dele Alli found a surging Kane who easily completed his hat trick in the 72nd minute, his 29th of the campaign.

Spurs brought on Moussa Sissoko and Mousa Dembele for Dele Alli and Eric Dier, and eventually Vincent Janssen came on for Kane, denying him the chance for a fourth goal.

Ben Davies then capped off the match with what was probably Spurs’ best goal of the day, a blistering ball from the top of the box that gave Marshall absolutely no chance to put Spurs up 6-1, and Toby Alderweireld got his first goal of the season off of a Son Heung-Min flick to the back post for Spurs’ seventh.

Andre Marriner finally called the match to a close with Spurs 7-1 winners. It was about the easiest win you’ll ever see.

Reactions:

• That was fun! Kind of neat to see Spurs end the season with two absolutely blistering away performances.
• Sad for Hugo in not getting to share the Golden Glove.
• Also a bit sad for Harry. Had he gotten a fourth goal, he would’ve had both 30 league goals for Spurs and 100 career Tottenham Hotspur goals. What an amazing season for Harry, considering he missed three months due to injury.
• Kane’s hatty is also his fifth of the season. Incredible.
• The win gives Spurs 86 points, their best ever point total in the Premier League, and with a goal differential of +59. Staggering.
• I don’t want this season to end! What an amazing year. What an amazing club! Onward — let’s win the league next year!