Lucas Moura has scored 18 Premier League goals since joining Tottenham from Paris St-Germain for £23m in January 2018Antonio Conte said Tottenham faced a season of “hard work” despite moving to within two points of a Champions League spot with a third successive Premier League win.
An outstanding goal by Lucas Moura helped propel fast-improving Spurs to victory over bottom club Norwich City.
Tottenham boss Conte, however, is not getting carried away after taking 10 points from his first four league games in charge.
“We have to build a solid base and a good foundation if we want to try to be competitive in the future and fight for something important,” said the Italian.
“I know for Tottenham, it will be a season of work. Hard work.”
Brazil forward Moura opened the scoring by finding the top corner from 25 yards following a move in which he beat two Norwich players and played a one-two with Son Heung-min.
Norwich should already have been ahead but Teemu Pukki fired straight at Hugo Lloris before Moura scored his first Premier League goal since February.
Davinson Sanchez doubled the lead, the Colombian defender lashing home as Norwich failed to deal with a corner before Son made it 3-0 with a neat finish.
At 1-0, Harry Kane missed a chance to score his first top-flight goal under Conte when he spotted Tim Krul off his line, but the England captain’s lob over the keeper fell wide of the target.
The Canaries are three points from safety after their first defeat under Dean Smith.
They missed a golden chance to equalise when 20-year-old Republic of Ireland forward Adam Idah fired wide from close range before Sanchez made it 2-0.
Reaction from Tottenham v Norwich, plus the rest of Sunday’s Premier League gamesGo straight to all the best Tottenham contentVisit our Norwich pageSpurs moving forward under ConteTottenham 3-0 Norwich: Conte happy with ‘important’ win but admits Spurs ‘have to improve’Tottenham were drifting in eighth spot in the table when they sacked Nuno Espirito Santo last month, but are now two points off a Champions League spot with a game in hand after leapfrogging north London rivals Arsenal.
Yet they are far from the dominant force Conte wants them to be, and remain a work in progress.
Spurs were fortunate not to concede, particularly when the defence opened up to allow Idah a chance he failed to take.
It proved a key moment as Spurs struck twice in the space of 10 minutes to take the game away from the Canaries.
While Conte knows there is plenty of hard work ahead, at least Spurs are building momentum and rediscovering the habit of winning matches.
While Kane’s lack of goals remains a talking point, Son is flourishing under Conte after finishing the game with a goal and an assist, while Conte is looking for Moura to add to his first Premier League goal since 28 February.
“I think he scored an amazing goal but he has the quality to score more goals – and he has to score more goals in the rest of the season,” added Conte.
Norwich punished for bad missesTottenham 3-0 Norwich: The score doesn’t reflect Norwich’s performance – SmithThis was Norwich boss Smith’s second defeat at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season after overseeing Aston Villa’s 2-1 loss at the venue before being sacked last month.
Smith will be encouraged by the number of opportunities his side created but will also wonder how they did not score as Pukki, Idah and substitute Josh Sargent wasted good chances.
Having dropped to the bottom without playing on Saturday after Newcastle’s win over Burnley, the Canaries now have back-to-back home games.
Smith will spend the week with his players on the training pitch working on their finishing and defending before Manchester United’s visit next Saturday.
“The performance is a step in the right direction, the result aside,” said the Norwich boss. “We have to learn how to defend better, especially from set-pieces.”
Player of the match
Son Heung-MinSon Heung-Min
with an average of 7.91
Tottenham HotspurSquad number7Player nameSon Heung-Min
Squad number27Player nameLucas Moura
Squad number29Player nameSkipp
Squad number5Player nameHøjbjerg
Squad number33Player nameDavies
Squad number6Player nameD Sánchez
Squad number1Player nameLloris
Squad number15Player nameDier
Squad number3Player nameReguilón
Squad number19Player nameRyan Sessegnon
Squad number23Player nameBergwijn
Squad number25Player nameTanganga
Squad number2Player nameDoherty
Squad number10Player nameKane
Norwich CitySquad number8Player nameGilmour
Squad number35Player nameIdah
Squad number23Player nameMcLean
Squad number22Player namePukki
Squad number5Player nameHanley
Squad number44Player nameOmobamidele
Squad number21Player nameWilliams
Squad number1Player nameKrul
Squad number2Player nameAarons
Squad number4Player nameGibson
Squad number10Player nameDowell
Squad number20Player nameLees-Melou
Squad number19Player nameSørensen
Squad number24Player nameSargent
Line-upsTottenhamFormation 3-4-2-1
1Lloris
6D Sánchez15Dier33Davies
25Tanganga29Skipp5Højbjerg3Reguilón
27Lucas Moura7Son Heung-Min
10Kane
1Lloris6D Sánchez15Dier33Davies25TangangaSubstituted forDohertyat 62’minutes29Skipp5Højbjerg3ReguilónBooked at 16minsSubstituted forR Sessegnonat 22’minutes27Lucas MouraSubstituted forBergwijnat 80’minutes7Son Heung-Min10KaneSubstitutes2Doherty8Winks14Rodon19R Sessegnon20Alli22Gollini23Bergwijn28Ndombele44ScarlettNorwichFormation 5-3-2
1Krul
2Aarons44Omobamidele5Hanley4Gibson21Williams
20Lees-Melou8Gilmour23McLean
35Idah22Pukki
1Krul2Aarons44Omobamidele5Hanley4Gibson21Williams20Lees-MelouSubstituted forDowellat 72’minutes8GilmourBooked at 34minsSubstituted forSørensenat 81’minutes23McLean35IdahSubstituted forSargentat 69’minutes22PukkiBooked at 14minsSubstitutes7Rupp10Dowell14Cantwell15Kabak18Tzolis19Sørensen24Sargent28Gunn30GiannoulisReferee:Jarred Gillett
Attendance:57,088
Live TextMatch ends, Tottenham Hotspur 3, Norwich City 0.
Second Half ends, Tottenham Hotspur 3, Norwich City 0.
Attempt missed. Matt Doherty (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right following a corner.
Corner, Tottenham Hotspur. Conceded by Brandon Williams.
Corner, Norwich City. Conceded by Ben Davies.
Foul by Jacob Sørensen (Norwich City).
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Brandon Williams (Norwich City) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Matt Doherty (Tottenham Hotspur).
Substitution, Norwich City. Jacob Sørensen replaces Billy Gilmour.
Attempt missed. Billy Gilmour (Norwich City) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Brandon Williams.
Substitution, Tottenham Hotspur. Steven Bergwijn replaces Lucas Moura.
Goal! Tottenham Hotspur 3, Norwich City 0. Son Heung-Min (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Ben Davies.
Attempt missed. Billy Gilmour (Norwich City) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Brandon Williams.
Attempt saved. Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Pierre-Emile Højbjerg.
Substitution, Norwich City. Kieran Dowell replaces Pierre Lees-Melou.
Kenny McLean (Norwich City) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Davinson Sánchez (Tottenham Hotspur).
Attempt saved. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Lucas Moura with a headed pass.
Substitution, Norwich City. Joshua Sargent replaces Adam Idah.
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