Kane's hat-trick leads Tottenham to hammer Southampton

Tottenham Hotspur English forward Harry Kane on Tuesday scored a hat-trick to help his side thrash Southampton 5-2 in the English Premier League's 20th round.

Kane opened the scoring 22 minutes into the match and struck again to double his side's lead 2-0 17 minutes later, reports Efe.

Dele Alli added the third goal for Tottenham in the 49th minute, while his teammate Heung-Min Son netted the fourth just two minutes later.

Southampton midfielder Sofiane Boufal narrowed the gap after scoring the first goal for his side in the 64th minute, but Kane netted his third goal in the 67th minute.

With eight minutes to go, Dusan Tadic scored the second goal for Southampton, which suffered its ninth defeat this season.

With this home win, Tottenham jumps to the fourth position in the Premier League with 37 points, two points behind defending champion third-placed Chelsea, which is set to host Brighton & Hove Albion later on Tuesday in the same round.

After his second straight hat-trick and his 39th goal this year, Kane holds the record for most Premier League goals in a calendar year, two goals ahead of retired star Alan Shearer.

Kane has also become Europe's top goal scorer of 2017 with 56 goals in all competitions, ahead of Barcelona forward Lionel Messi (54) and Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo (53).

--IANS

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