Sublime Spurs tear Huddersfield apart

London: Tottenham Hotspur’s Brazil forward Lucas Moura struck a superb hat-trick in a 4-0 win over relegated Huddersfield Town on Saturday to bolster the home side’s hopes of a top-four finish in the Premier League.

Spurs were without the injured Harry Kane and Dele Alli but Lucas’s treble after an early Victor Wanyama goal were just reward for a dominant display against the bottom side.

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino was delighted with the manner of the victory. “I am so pleased,” he told BBC. “Football is about the squad, the collective, of course we had some injuries after Manchester City like Alli and Kane and we were forced to make changes and we needed to provide fresh legs and it’s good because we have a tough period ahead and the performance was very professional.

“It’s always important to open the game and score in the first half to give belief and confidence, after a few minutes we score the second goal and lift the stadium and fans — it’s fantastic to play here and gives the players fantastic energy and belief.”

The win in the early game took Spurs up to third place, a point ahead of Chelsea and four points clear of fifth-placed fellow London rivals Arsenal, who have a game in hand.

Tottenham made seven changes from the side that beat Manchester City 1-0 at home in the Champions League in midweek, with an eye on the quarter-final second leg on Wednesday.

Wanyama put Spurs ahead after 24 minutes with a fine individual goal after dribbling around goalkeeper Ben Hamer and tucking the ball into an empty net from a Ben Davies pass.

Three minutes later the hosts scored again thanks to a fierce right-foot drive by Lucas that flew underneath Hamer after the excellent Moussa Sissoko set him up on the break.

Spurs’ Fernando Llorente hit the bar after halftime and Huddersfield’s Juninho Bacuna had a late free kick tipped on to the bar before Christian Eriksen hit the post on the counter.

Six minutes later Lucas controlled Eriksen’s cross and fired into the bottom corner past the helpless Hamer before rounding off the win by smashing into the top corner in stoppage time.

Results

Tottenham 4 Huddersfield 0

Playing later

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Burnley v Cardiff

Fulham v Everton

Southampton v Wolves

Manchester United v West Ham