Flat-track bullies Tottenham can push Chelsea all the way in the Premier League title race

Tottenham may just last the pace this season if they can regularly reproduce this flat-track bully act.

Spurs’ record against fellow members of the top six — particularly away from home — may ultimately cost them the Premier League title but they can push Chelsea all the way in the run-in by demonstrating ruthlessness against the division’s lesser lights.

Stoke were utterly complicit in their downfall here.

Mark Hughes’ side did their level best to hand Tottenham a numerical advantage in any way possible, whether through lackadaisical defending which contributed to a one-sided first half or Glenn Whelan’s finest effort to earn a red card for lunging recklessly at Jan Vertonghen.

Referee Jon Moss showed clemency in producing only a yellow card but Spurs were much more merciless as Harry Kane displayed a clinical level of finishing which proved beyond Mauricio Pochettino’s side when exiting the Europa League last week.

Much has been made of Tottenham’s inability to consistently beat the best — in games against top-six opposition domestically and in the Champions League they have yielded just nine wins from 37 matches since Pochettino’s appointment in 2014 — but from that select group, they only face Arsenal and Manchester United before the end of the season.

Both of those matches are at home, where they are capable of defeating any side on a going day, and Tottenham’s run-in is more likely to be defined by occasions similar to this one — eight of their final 12 League games are against teams currently in the lower half of the table, including three of the present bottom four.

This was a perfect template for those challenges ahead. Pochettino stood on the touchline demanding intensity from the outset.

“Forward, forward!” the manager shouted at his three centre-backs in the first 10 minutes as Spurs sought to play the game in Stoke’s half as much as possible.

Tottenham bristled with intent and pressed Stoke into defensive mistakes; a team who seemingly harboured little hope of gaining anything more than a draw were battered into submission by the interval, rendering the second half academic.

There was no nervous tension, no slovenliness: Spurs were commanding and authoritative throughout.

It was a cathartic afternoon for Spurs after their midweek disappointment on a collective and individual note — Dele Alli’s goal enabled him to begin the task of putting the indiscipline against Gent behind him — and one which propelled them back up to second place in the table, albeit 10 points adrift of the leaders.

“The target is to keep going and try to be there if something wrong happens with Chelsea,” said Pochettino. “It is true the objective is to try to catch up with them, but you need to be very close to them to try to take the possibility. It is a big challenge for us to try to win every game.

“Now we have only two competitions — the FA Cup and the Premier League — and we have to try to give our best.

“We are normally winning games or, if not, playing very well here at White Hart Lane.

“Maybe because we all, our supporters, the players, staff, feel it is the last season here and it is a very special atmosphere on the pitch and in the stadium. That helps the team a lot to play well.”

Eight successive Premier League home victories equals a club record and the lopsided scoreline boosts Tottenham’s goal difference at a useful moment, given the narrow margins within the chasing pack.

Spurs have scored the fewest number of goals in the top five but they have the best defensive record in the League, giving them a goal difference of 32, which only Chelsea can better. They are notably now 10 goals better off than Manchester City and 15 ahead of Manchester United.

Kane’s form remains vital to Tottenham’s chances of maintaining that advantage.

Hughes made the point that Kane thrives off the energy and movement around him, but the 23-year-old is fresher at this point of the campaign than last season, not least due to an enforced eight-week lay-off in the autumn.

He has now passed the 20-goal mark for three consecutive years, bringing up a century of club career goals in the process, and Pochettino was not about to downplay Kane’s significance, despite the burden on his shoulders in the weeks ahead.

“Harry has the profile to be a legend here,” said the Tottenham boss.

“I think he has started to be a legend with all the goals he is scoring, how he behaves, how professional he is and how like a man he is.

“Sometimes he argues with me, sometimes he is upset with me, sometimes happy with me — he has a strong character.

“His personality is because he shows on the pitch the behaviour and performance he should.”

Spurs ran out of steam towards the end of last season but more displays like this and Pochettino will fancy their chances of ending this season on a high.