Harry Kane strikes to keep Spurs in touch with Leicester

Tottenham 3 Bournemouth 0

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino described his side's cruise control victory over Bournemouth as "a good day at the office" as Spurs maintained the pressure on Leicester at the top of the table.

The Foxes had ground out a 1-0 win away at Crystal Palace on Saturday, a result that extended their lead at the top of the table to eight points. With third-place Arsenal also recording a rare win in 2016 (a 2-0 victory at Everton), Spurs knew they had to take maximum points from the Seasiders if they were to keep themselves in with a shout of their first top-flight title since 1961.

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They were out of the blocks from the first whistle with Harry Kane putting them one up after just 43 seconds as he slotted home Kyle Walker's cross. The 22-year-old England striker doubled Tottenham's advantage on 16 minutes, this time profiting from Dele Alli's sweet pass, to take his tally to 21 Premier League goals for the season. Kane came close to grabbing a hat-trick - as he had when the two sides met earlier in the season - when his 25-yard strike was kept out by Artur Boruc. But the Bournemouth keeper's efforts were in vain as Christian Eriksen tapped in the rebound for what would prove be the last goal of the game.

Kane is now the league's top scorer (two ahead of Leicester's Jamie Vardy) and Pochettino described him as "one of the best strikers in the world", adding: "Today was one of the best performances of the season... we created a lot of chances and it was very important to win 3-0 and get a clean sheet."

With the international break disrupting the league next weekend, Tottenham's next fixture is a trip to Anfield to face Liverpool on 2 April as the season enters the home straight. A week later they host Manchester United, and those two matches will surely play a significant part in determining the outcome of this season's dramatic title race.

However, Spurs, like Leicester and Arsenal, are no longer in any cup competitions which leaves them free to concentrate on the league.

"After the international break we will have one game every week and we will have time to prepare training and improve to do a lot of things which were impossible to do before," said Pochettino.

Asked if he viewed the break as a nuisance, Pochettino replied: "[It] has not come at a bad time. It gives us time to relax and analyse... We have seven games ahead and when the players come back from the national teams, we hope it is with a good spirit."

As for whether Leicester can be caught before the end of the season Pochettino said: "The gap Leicester have with us, Arsenal and [Manchester] City, we need to reduce. It's true they have a good advantage but we need to fight and believe. We need to believe."