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Reuters
Reuters
Sport
Martyn Herman

Kane returns to help Tottenham back to winning ways

Soccer Football - Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v West Bromwich Albion - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - February 7, 2021 Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane scores their first goal Pool via REUTERS/Matt Dunham

Harry Kane scored on his return from injury to help Tottenham Hotspur to a 2-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion on Sunday and end a three-match losing run in the Premier League.

The England skipper's return after missing the last two games with an ankle injury was sooner than expected and Tottenham's talisman was quickly back in the groove.

Soccer Football - Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v West Bromwich Albion - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - February 7, 2021 Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates Pool via REUTERS/Matt Dunham

After missing a couple of chances in the first half Kane struck in the 54th minute to move joint second on Tottenham's all-time scoring list alongside Bobby Smith with 208 goals.

Four minutes later Son Heung-min drove in Tottenham's second after a strong run by recalled Lucas Moura.

Tottenham moved up to seventh place with 36 points from 22 games, above Chelsea on goal difference before their match against bottom club Sheffield United later.

Soccer Football - Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v West Bromwich Albion - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - February 7, 2021 Tottenham Hotspur's Lucas Moura in action with West Bromwich Albion's Conor Gallagher Pool via REUTERS/Neil Hall

Sam Allardyce's West Brom are 19th with 12 points from 23 games, 11 points below 17th-placed Burnley, and their hopes of avoiding relegation are looking forlorn.

Kane and Son have both scored 13 league goals this season and again showed how invaluable they are to Tottenham.

When Kane had to be substituted at halftime in the defeat by Liverpool there were fears the striker might be facing a longer spell on the sidelines and the Spurs gloom deepened with a toothless loss to Chelsea in midweek.

Soccer Football - Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v West Bromwich Albion - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - February 7, 2021 West Bromwich Albion's Sam Johnstone in action after a Tottenham Hotspur shot Pool via REUTERS/Julian Finney

But his return proved a huge boost as Tottenham produced a dominant display, albeit against struggling opposition, to revive their challenge for the top four.

"We've had a couple of bad results so it was very important to get back to winning ways," Son said.

"Harry is one of the best strikers in the world so we missed him, even if it was only a couple of games, and I'm happy that he scored again. I miss him."

Soccer Football - Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v West Bromwich Albion - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - February 7, 2021 General view of action during a Tottenham Hotspur corner Pool via REUTERS/Julian Finney

It took Kane a little while to find his range.

He had two chances in quick succession in the first half but unusually failed to hit the target with either.

He did work West Brom keeper Sam Johnstone with a powerful effort from Moura's pass but the visitors reached halftime level and could have even been ahead had Diagne not headed straight at Hugo Lloris.

The first time Kane got an opportunity in the second half he made no mistake. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's threaded the ball through the West Brom defence and Kane took one touch before passing a right-footed shot into the net.

Tottenham suddenly looked fluent and doubled their lead when Moura made a surging run from the halfway line and played in Son whose right-footed shot had too much power for Johnstone.

Had Mbaye Diagne's header not been rightly ruled out for offside it might have complicated Tottenham's afternoon, but Jose Mourinho's side were comfortable winners.

"Kane is a special player, but today they showed everyone how together they are and how much they were suffering with the bad results," Mourinho said.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)

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