Tottenham ease past Cardiff to move back into second and keep faint title hopes flickering

Cardiff City 0-3 Tottenham Hotspur: England captain Harry Kane was joined on the scoresheet by Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-Min as Spurs ran riot before half-time

Harry Kane achieved another record as Tottenham kicked off 2019 by recovering from their Wolves humiliation in style to put Cardiff City in their place.

Kane's opening goal after just 155 seconds means he has now scored five Premier League goals on New Year's Day, a record he shares with Andrew Cole and Steven Gerrard.

The England captain was joined on the scoresheet by Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-Min as Spurs ran riot before half-time.

The Londoners reclaimed second place, a point above Manchester City, and six behind leaders Liverpool, to banish any hangover from their 3-1 defeat to Wolves.

If they weren't considered so already, this was a performance that marked Mauricio Pochettino's side out as title contenders.

It's hard to believe this was the same Spurs side – bar Danny Rose for Ben Davies – who lost so heavily to another promoted team just three days earlier.

They simply toyed with Cardiff going forwards, seemingly scoring whenever they pleased and the third goal killed the game, with the 'Ole' chants going up from the visiting fans after half an hour.

While Spurs were better in every department, Cardiff didn't help themselves, with sloppiness at the back, poor passes in midfield and a tendency to get caught offside up front.

Cardiff's dreadful record against the top teams continued and they have lost their last 15 Premier League matches against the 'big six' sides, conceding 45 goals.

Harry Kane opened the scoring (Getty Images)

The Bluebirds had taken four points from their last two games to lie 16th, three points above the drop zone, and recorded back-to-back clean sheets after shipping five to Manchester United in their previous home game, but any hopes of making it three quickly vanished.

Kane broke the deadlock with his shin, deflecting in a loose ball from a terrible touch from Cardiff captain Sean Morrison after Kieran Trippier's cross from the right initially hit Kane.

The England striker has now scored 16 goals in his last 12 Premier League away matches against newly-promoted teams.

Kane has netted in each of his last four games and his tally of 14 equals Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at the top of the Premier League scoring charts.

Christian Eriksen made it two (Getty)

Spurs had the cutting edge Cardiff lacked and they made it 2-0 after just 12 minutes with a classy goal from Eriksen.

The Denmark international dummied Bruno Ecuele Manga and Harry Arter before picking his spot in the bottom corner from the edge of the box to cap a delightful move involving Moussa Sissoko and Son Heung-Min.

Son made it 3-0 with another stylish finish, the South Korean delaying his shot from Kane's short pass while Morrison dallied before steering an acute-angled drive across goalkeeper Neil Etheridge and into the far bottom corner for his 11th goal of the season, all scored in the last 16 games.

The home side finally produced an effort on goal in the 52nd minute when half-time substitute Junior Hoilett's far post header brought a diving save from Hugo Lloris.

Heung-min Son celebrates with a shimmy (AFP/Getty)

Cardiff suffered more problems in the 59th minute when Victor Camarasa limped off injured to be replaced by Joe Ralls.

Spurs on the other hand looked full of goals and Kane threatened again just after the hour when he flashed an angled, rising drive wide following a pass from Dele Alli.

Then Son was denied by Etheridge after Kane put him through on goal.

Cardiff never gave up and a cross from Hoilett was tipped over by Lloris, who then smothered a header from Aron Gunnarsson as the game petered out.

Sissoko missed out on the chance of glory when he blazed high and wide after wriggling into a shooting position, while Kane was also off target with a curling effort on the turn in time added on.

But it didn't matter as the Londoners continued their record of scoring in every away game this season and they have won their last six Premier League New Year's Day fixtures.