Harry Kane fired home from the penalty spot to boost Tottenham’s Premier League title charge in a 2-0 win over Everton, as struggling Leicester remain in relegation trouble after a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace.
England captain Kane broke the deadlock in London and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg doubled the lead late on as Spurs moved to within one point of leaders Arsenal.
The turning point came just before the hour mark when referee Paul Tierney ruled that Kane had been brought down by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and pointed to the spot.
Kane fired his effort into the bottom-left corner for his ninth Premier League goal of another prolific season.
Hojbjerg completed a 2-0 win in the 86th minute, condemning Frank Lampard’s side to their second consecutive league defeat.
Tottenham are flying, level on 23 points with second-placed Manchester City and just one point behind north London rivals Arsenal, with City and the Gunners both in action on Sunday.
Antonio Conte’s team have now won all seven of their home games this season.
“Despite the difficulty of the game, we are talking about a good opponent, and despite the injuries we were able to solve the situation,” said Conte after Richarlison limped off with a calf injury with the score at 0-0.
“That means the players are growing in many aspects. I am very proud of the players.”
Leicester stalemate
In the early kick-off, Leicester edged off the bottom of the Premier League despite failing to breakdown Palace.
Leicester’s only league win this season was a 4-0 victory against Nottingham Forest earlier this month but that proved to be a false dawn for the 2016 champions.
The Foxes, who have the leakiest defence in the division, were solid at the back against Palace at the King Power but failed to capitalise on their chances.
“The players are fighting and running and giving everything,” said Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers.
“I always felt after the summer market we would have to fight our way through the season but the players are doing that and hopefully we will get better results as the season goes on.”
Nottingham Forest – back in the Premier League for the first time in 23 years – had the chance to leapfrog Leicester but lost 1-0 at Wolves.
Steve Cooper’s men have taken just one point from their past seven games after losing out in a tale of two penalties at Molineux.
Ruben Neves scored from the spot to move managerless Wolves out of the bottom three before Jose Sa saved Brennan Johnson’s penalty at the other end.
Fulham and Bournemouth remain in the top half of the table after sharing the points in a 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage.
Bournemouth extended their unbeaten run to six games under caretaker boss Gary O’Neil, and could have moved into the top six had they not surrendered the lead on two occasions.
Dominic Solanke slotted home the opener from Philip Billing’s cut-back in the second minute.
Issa Diop levelled midway through the first half with a towering header from Andreas Pereira’s corner, but Bournemouth retook the lead just seven minutes later when Solanke teed up Jefferson Lerma.
Aleksandar Mitrovic had been a doubt due to a foot injury, but Fulham’s talisman made his mark from the penalty spot to salvage a point after he had been hauled down inside the area by Lerma.
The heavyweight clash of the weekend takes place on Sunday when champions Manchester City face Liverpool at Anfield.
Leaders Arsenal are away to Leeds, while Chelsea play at Aston Villa and Manchester United host Newcastle.
