IRELAND INTERNATIONAL MATT Doherty was on target as Tottenham Hotspur recorded a convincing 4-0 win against Crystal Palace.
On a positive night for Spurs manager Antonio Conte, Harry Kane found the net twice before Son Heung-min rounded off the scoring at Selhurst Park.
Conte’s inconsistent Tottenham, who finished fourth last season, had taken just one point from two matches after the Premier League resumed following the World Cup.
The disaffected Italian manager, used to success at Inter Milan, Chelsea and Juventus, warned this week he would only stick around if he was 100% convinced by the club’s project.
Conte was looking for a reaction after Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at home against Aston Villa but his team were second best in the first half at Selhurst Park, lacking zip in attack.
But it was a different story after the break, with England captain Kane scoring twice in five minutes in his 300th Premier League appearance to move just two goals behind Jimmy Greaves’ all-time record for the club of 266.
Earlier, Palace had come agonisingly close to opening the scoring in the 27th minute when Jordan Ayew brought a fine save from Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris after he was found by Wilfried Zaha.
That galvanised Palace and minutes later Joachim Anderson hit a powerful left-footed shot from just outside the area that flashed just wide.
An insipid Tottenham survived until half-time but came out after the break a totally different side.
They broke the deadlock in the 48th minute when Ivan Perisic crossed to Kane from the left and he neatly nodded past Vicente Guaita at the near post.
Kane doubled Spurs’ lead when the ball fell to Bryan Gil on the right and he flicked a pass to the England captain, who sent a low strike unerringly into the bottom left corner.
Doherty made it 3-0 midway through the second half and Son completed the scoring four minutes later.
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