Advertisement

SHOWCASE Soccer-Alli delighted after 'difficult' week

LONDON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli was delighted to contribute a goal to the emphatic 4-0 win over Stoke City on Sunday only three days after letting his club down by being sent off at Wembley. A wild challenge in the Europa League tie with Gent on Thursday brought Alli a deserved red card and left his team to play for more than 50 minutes with 10 men. They were unable to manage more than a 2-2 draw and went out of the competition. On Sunday, however, the England international was back to something like his best in tandem with Harry Kane, whose hat-trick propelled Spurs to second place in the Premier League. "It has been a difficult week for me," Alli said. "I felt horrible after the game in the week and I'm delighted to respond like this today. "Harry Kane is a fantastic player, it's great to have someone like that in our team. All the credit to him for my goal." Kane's first goal was his 100th in club football, 16 of which were scored on loan for Millwall, Leyton Orient and Leicester City. "I got told before the game on Thursday I was on 99 club goals and it's nice to get those kind of records," he said. "Hopefully another 100 in the next few years." Stoke's Erik Pieters was among the defenders who had no answer to Tottenham's passing and movement. "When you come here, you have to be top level and any performance below that they can kill you," he told Sky Sports. "Every opportunity for Harry Kane is a goal. The free kick was lucky but if you are not at your best level, they can hurt you." (Reporting by Steve Tongue, editing by Neil Robinson)