Burnley 0-3 Tottenham: Harry Kane scores his seventh Premier League hat-trick for dominant Spurs while Dele Alli angers home fans at Turf Moor

• e-mail

For Tottenham, a first away win since September and, as Mauricio Pochettino so eloquently put it on Saturday night, a chance 'to believe again and to smile again' after what befell them at Manchester City. But this, above all, was an encapsulation, in one match, of the quite outstanding class Harry Kane has shown these past 12 months.

Though a Dele Alli controversy stalked the club out of Lancashire, Kane was the hugely significant presence, equalling Alan Shearer's Premier League record of 36 goals in a calendar year and wafting away any notion that Burnley - who started the game higher in the table - are in Tottenham's class.

It's Kane's all-round contribution which still takes the breath away: the ball through the channel from a confined space, the aerial threat, the pace, and the ice-cold finishing that finished things. There was talk at Pochettino's press conference afterwards about 24-year-old Kane, with his 93 Premier League goals, ultimately threatening Shearer's tally of 260 and you could see the Argentine thinking that way. 'Harry has the professionalism,' he said. 'The ethic, the great ethic.'

Harry Kane scored the seventh hat-trick of his Premier League career to fire Tottenham to a 3-0 win victory over Burnley

Two of Kane's goals were assisted by England team-mate Dele Alli, who was unpopular among the home fans at Turf Moor

Tottenham's win saw them leapfrog Burnley and climb to fifth in the Premier League table after 19 rounds of fixtures

Kane equalled Alan Shearer's record of 36 Premier League goals in a calendar year after scoring his fifth PL hat-trick of 2017

MATCH FACTS, PLAYER RATINGS AND LEAGUE TABLE

Burnley (4-2-3-1): Pope 5; Bardsley 6, Long 5.5, Mee 5, Taylor 6; Cork 6.5, Defour 7; Gudmondsson 6, Hendrick 6 (Vokes 71 5.5), Arfield 5.5 (Wells 86); Wood 5.5 (Barnes 34)

Subs: Lindegaard, Lowton, Westwood, Walters

Booked: Defour 

Manager: Dyche 6

Tottenham (4-3-1-2): Lloris 6.5; Aurier 6.5, Sanchez 6, Vertongen 6, Davies 5; Eriksen 6 Dier 7 (Lamela 83), Sissoko 7.5; Alli 6.5 (Llorente 87); Kane 8.5, Son 6.5 (Dembele 78 6)

Subs: Vorm, Trippier, Rose, Foyth

Goals: Kane (7, 69, 79)

Booked: Alli, Sissoko 

Manager: Pochettino 7

Referee: Oliver (Northumberland) 5

MOTM: Kane

Season at a glance

• Live tables
• Fixtures
• Scores

• Premier League
• Premier League
• Championship
• League One
• League Two
• Scottish Premiership
• Scottish Div 1
• Scottish Div 2
• Scottish Div 3
• Ligue 1
• Serie A
• La Liga
• Bundesliga

• More tables
• More fixtures
• More scores

Hat-trick hero Harry Kane touched the ball 54 times, often coming deep for possession

Kane's third goal followed neat play between him, Ben Davies and Dele Alli

For stats and maps check out Sportsmail's brilliant Match Zone.

Advertisement

What Alli brings is far less consistent, infinitely less predictable and at times no less than idiotic. He could easily have been dismissed for a two-footed lunge towards Burnley's Charlie Taylor in the game's fourth minute, which earned him a yellow card. Alli was out of control as he made the challenge, just as he was in one of equally poor execution against City's Kevin de Bruyne last week.

The game requires players who operate off the cuff, with the genius that brings, though there was no heroism attached to this challenge, especially since Alli promptly won his side the most spurious of penalties. Burnley defender Kevin Long - deputising for James Tarkowski, the suspended buttress of Dyche's defence - encroached into Alli's personal space and down he went.

To have booked him for simulation would have meant dismissal, so referee Michael Oliver took the standard option. The easy option. Kane's ensuing right-footed shot sent Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope the wrong way.

Alli lunged in on Burnley left back Charlie Taylor inside the opening four minutes and the home fans wanted him to be sent off

Alli, who was lucky not to be sent off at Manchester City last week, took a risk by diving in with both of his feet off the ground

But referee Michael Oliver decided that a yellow card was a sufficient punishment for 21-year-old England international Alli

Alli, who was booed by the home supporters for the rest of the match, protested his innocence while Taylor lay on the floor

Moments later, Alli upset the Burnley faithful further by going down in the 18-yard box under a challenge from Kevin Long

A penalty was awarded and replays broadcast by BT Sport confirmed Alli had indeed been fouled by Burnley defender Long

Dyche said his player should not have made any contact, which was generous of him since Alli was clearly going to ground before the player made contact with him. They're partisan about their football in these parts yet the chants of 'cheat' which echoed around the ground were not unjustifiable. The game is in a poor state when a manager has to say his defender is wrong in such a moment like, though Dyche seemed determined not to allow a Mourinho-type narrative to take hold about Tottenham being in some way lucky. He was gracious enough to want to say that the better team won.

The other side of Alli was in evidence, too, in the angular reverse pass on 13 minutes which allowed Kane - off-side when he first received it, though not ruled so - to shoot sharply a few inches wide. A rapid three-man counter-attacking move also saw Alli ferry Christian Eriksen's ball on to Moussa Sissoko who, streaking in towards goal, drew a sharp double save from Pope, using his feet on both occasions.

The quality of Pope's distribution was poor at times and Burnley uncharacteristically conceded cheap possession - in part because of Tottenham's determination to press and harry them. Pochettino's players were certainly motivated to draw a line under a desperate three months on the road. Burnley's hopes receded further when Chris Wood, their best attacking threat, left early after a collision with Hugo Lloris as he chased into the six-yard box to meet a Steven Defour cross.

Spurs talisman Kane stepped up and converted the spot kick confidently as Alli watched on from the edge of the box

Twenty-four-year-old Kane celebrated his 19th Spurs goal of the season in all competitions by jumping and punching the air

Kane looked sharp as Tottenham dominated the first half in which they posted 10 shots, while Burnley failed to register one

Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope kept his side in the game with a string of first-half saves, including two to deny Moussa Sissoko

A knee injury to Chris Wood dealt a blow to Burnley as their New Zealand international failed to complete the first 45 minutes

Dyche was aggrieved that Sam Vokes had a goal chalked off for a barge on Lloris - marginal again - and felt that Ashley Barnes, Wood's replacement, was fouled in the Spurs area.

But there was a difference in class with Kane at its core.

The striker created an outstanding chance, navigating a pass from a tight spot to the advancing Serge Aurier, whose cross Sissoko skied over. The Frenchman is not a finisher.

He subsequently took matters into his own hands. Ben Mee was hustled into conceding possession in his own half to Sissoko, who played the ball into Kane's path and watched him pick his spot. 

Then Johann Berg Gudmundsson sacrificed the ball in a dangerous area and a smart exchange of passes between Ben Davies and Alli saw Kane played in for another finish in the bottom corner.

Burnley cannot lay claim to beings top six side when they have scored only 16 league goals before Christmas. 'We all know where the real market is for the superpowers, Dyche reflected. 'The top of the rest, where we are, is a fantastic position for us,' Tottenham, meanwhile, have their own elite pretensions re-affirmed. 'They're a great side,' Dyche reflected. 'And Kane makes them an even better one.'

Spurs continued to boss the game after half time and should have been 2-0 up but Son Heung-Min missed a glorious chance

It was 2-0 on 69 minutes when star man Kane finished coolly after being set up by a through pass from Frenchman Sissoko

Kane wrapped up his hat-trick with a driven left-foot shot as Alli got his second assist of the match before being subbed off

Alli was booed off by an angry home crowd but Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino gave him a hug as he left the field of play

The reception the Spurs bench gave Alli was very different to how the Burnley fans by the dugout reacted to his withdrawal