Premier League: Tottenham Hotspur 2 Norwich City 1
Dele Alli inspired Tottenham Hotspur to a 2-1 victory over strugglers Norwich City with a goal and an assist to move them up to sixth in the Premier League.
The England International netted in the 38th minute to give Spurs the lead before the Canaries Teemu Pukki levelled the score in the second-half only for Alli to set up Heung-Min Son with 11 minutes left to seal the win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Spurs boss Jose Mourinho made a surprise inclusion for the match with the return of captain Hugo Lloris in the starting line-up.
The French goalkeeper returned to training last week, but boss Mourinho said Lloris would still not be in contention until early February as he got his confidence back after damaging ligaments in his elbow in a 3-0 defeat at Brighton back in October.
It was a real bright start from the hosts who looked to get on the front foot early with of attacking intent but their first real chance didn't come until the ninth minute despite a free-kick and a corner in the opening minutes.
Argentinean winger Erik Lamela flew into the box with pace and put his boot through an incoming cross from right-back Serge Aurier, who raced down the flank, while still in the air but Tim Krul was equal to it.
Spurs kept pushing at the Canaries backline but didn't manage to break in behind the visitors on too many occasions.
Norwich then had their first chance in the 16th minute when Todd Cantwell played a pass to put Teemu Pukki in alongside Toby Alderweireld.
The Finnish International tried dinking a shot into the bottom right corner past Lloris but it went wide.
It was back down the other end after that where Heung-Min Son created space for himself on the edge of the box but blasted a shot over the bar.
Cantwell was then involved for the Canaries as a corner was cleared but only as far as the attacking midfielder who unleashed a rocket but it went to over the bar near the top right corner.
In the 30th minute Giovanni Lo Celso linked up nicely with Lucas Moura with the latter picking up a pass to send Son in behind defender Christoph Zimmermann.
The South Korean fired an effort into the side netting with just a narrow angle to shoot from once he controlled the ball.
Eight minutes later the hosts broke the deadlock as Son played the ball out to the right flank for Aurier, who raced forward and whipped in a cross, where Dele Alli was on hand to poke the ball beyond Tim Krul.
Tottenham took a 1-0 lead into the half-time and it almost got worse for the visitors two minutes into the second-half as Cantwell missed the ball and caught Erik Lamela's legs with a challenge instead.
The referee handed the youngster a yello card but VAR checked it for a potential red card which could have seen them reduced to 10-men but it remained a yellow thankfully for the Canaries.
Norwich then had a couple of chances including one where Cantwell raced forward to win the ball, catching the ankle of Winks in the process, before trying to pick out a cross.
Spurs midfielder Winks then hobbled off after the play finally stopped as Norwich continue to play on until Lloris held onto a shot from Alexander Tettey.
In the 68th minute Spurs Ryan Sessegnon put his leg across Max Aarons as the Norwich right-back beats him for pace inside the box to award the visitors a penalty.
Up stepped striker Pukki following a long VAR check to slot the ball only just past Lloris and into the bottom right corner to level the score 1-1 in the 70th minute.
Nine minutes later Tottenham restored their lead as Lo Celso chipped a ball through to Alli who ran onto it wide right inside the box, before sending a lopping effort into the box, where Son nodded it home at the back post.
Spurs then held on as they pressed Norwich to stop them attacking.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Aurier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen (Fernandes 75), Sessegnon, Winks (Dier 55), Lo Celso, Alli, Lamela (Eriksen 62), Son, Moura.
Unused subs: Gazzaniga, Sanchez, Tanganga, Ndombele.
Norwich City: Krul, Aarons, Hanley, Zimmermann, Byram, Tettey (Hernandez 82), McLean (Stiepermann 90), Rupp, Duda, Cantwell, Pukki.
Unused subs: McGovern, Lewis, Trybull, Drmic, Amadou.
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