Harry Kane kept his impressive goalscoring run going with a first-half hat-trick in Tottenham Hotspur's 4-0 thrashing of Stoke City at White Hart Lane.

The England international scored all three of his goals inside the opening 37 minutes, making it three trebles already this calendar year and two in the space of a week.

Stoke, unbeaten on their previous two trips to this part of North London, put up a better fight in the second half to keep the scoreline down but there was to be no denying Spurs an eighth home win on the bounce - equalling their previous best Premier League run.

It took 15 minutes for Tottenham to get up and running, as star man Kane made the most of the first half-chance that fell his way by putting his boot through the ball and picking out the far corner.

Spurs were certainly in a confident mood, despite winning just three of their last eight prior to this thrashing, with Kyle Walker blazing a scissor-kick attempt over the bar.

A key moment in the match arrived 25 minutes in after Hugo Lloris kept out Peter Crouch from close range with a big reaction save, giving Tottenham the warning they needed to click back into top gear.

Jan Vertonghen sent one shot crashing back off the bar as his long wait for a goal went on, while Walker and Kane both came close to adding a second.

That key second goal did arrive soon after, though, and it was Kane who bagged it, sending the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box directly from a corner.

Five minutes later the hat-trick was complete when Kane put his foot through a free kick and, via a big deflection off former Spur Crouch, got the beating of Lee Grant for a third time.

A fourth Tottenham treble for the Englishman, putting him alongside Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe to reach that tally in a Spurs shirt during the Premier League era, was followed up by an equally impressive assist prior to the break.

Kane flicked the ball past his opponent on the right-hand side and sent in a teasing cross for Dele Alli to slide home at the back post, making it the first time Tottenham have scored four first-half goals in a league game in five years.

Tottenham, also four-goal winners in the previous two meetings between these two sides, did see their result soured somewhat early in the second period when Toby Alderweireld hobbled down the tunnel with an injury setback.

Stoke, who have now shipped three or more goals in four of their last six away outings, did well to restrict their opponents in the remainder of a more tightly-contested second half in North London.

Charlie Adam, booked in the first half for a challenge on Alli and perhaps fortunate to escape a second caution soon after, had one attempt kept out by Lloris in what proved to be a rare opening at either end of the field.

Normal service was soon resumed when Kane looked to again pick out the bottom corner from range, only to this time be thwarted by a fine save from Grant, who also denied an offside Eric Dier from a few yards out.

In the end Kane's first-half brilliance proved to be the difference, taking his tally to 13 goals in 11 outings and lifting Spurs back into second place in the table.