Striker Harry Kane marked his 300th Premier League appearance with a brace of goals to hand Tottenham Hotspur an emphatic 4-0 victory over Crystal Palace in their London derby at Selhurst Park.
Defender Matt Doherty and Son Heung-min netted further goals for the visitors as Palace capitulated in the second half having been the better side in the opening period when the teams went to the break at 0-0.
The win moves Tottenham to 33 points from their 18 matches and to within two points of fourth-placed Manchester United, though they have played a game more. Palace are in 12th position with 22 points from 17 games.
After a quiet first half, Kane rose highest at the back post to head in Ivan Perisic's cross on 48 minutes, and shortly afterwards added a second as he collected a pass from Bryan Gil, took a touch and arrowed his shot into the bottom corner to take his career Premier League goals tally to 198.
The win eases the pressure on Tottenham manager Antonio Conte after his Spurs side had lost four of their previous seven topflight matches, including a demoralising 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa that saw them booed off the pitch by their own supporters.
Both sides now switch focus to FA Cup third round ties as Tottenham host third-tier Portsmouth and Palace welcome Premier League rivals Southampton.
Taiwo Awoniyi lifted Nottingham Forest out of the relegation zone with their first away win of the Premier League season as Southampton sank to a 1-0 defeat at St Mary's and remained rooted to the bottom of the table.
Forest's goal, only their second away this season, was a 27th minute close range tap-in after Brennan Johnson pounced on an error by Brazilian defender Lyanco and squared to the Nigeria international.
Southampton, with the Premier League's worst home record, squandered early chances and were booed off after a first half with no shots on target.
They have now lost their first four league games under new manager Nathan Jones and six in a row.
Steve Cooper's Forest, the side with the league's worst away record, had not scored on the road in the top flight since a 1-1 draw at Everton last August but could have had more with Johnson rattling the crossbar after 12 minutes.
Forest moved up to 15th with 17 points while Southampton are on 12.
Reuters
