A brace by Harry Kane inspired Tottenham Hotspur to a ruthless 4-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Wednesday.

Forest beat the worst team in the league, Southampton, by a score of 1-0. Wolves and Aston Villa played to a 1-1 draw, and West Ham and Leeds played to a 2-2 tie.

Tottenham, which was led by Antonio Conte and finished fourth last year, had only won one of their first two Premier League games after the World Cup.

The unhappy Italian manager, who was used to winning at Inter Milan, Chelsea, and Juventus, said this week that he would only stay if he was 100 percent sure about the club’s plans.

Conte wanted a response after his team lost 2-0 at home to Aston Villa on Sunday, and he got it in the end, even though his team played poorly in the first half.

“The character of this team always shows,” he told Sky Sports. “Maybe only in the last game against Aston Villa we didn’t have a strong reaction. Otherwise every game we show strong character.

“It is really important. We got three points. We continue to stay very close for the good positions. After you don’t win and the confidence is down, it was important to win.”

In the first half at Selhurst Park, Spurs were second best and didn’t have much attack. Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was the only reason the score stayed at 0-0, but things changed after the break.

Kane, who is the captain of England, scored twice in five minutes during his 300th Premier League game. He is now just two goals behind Jimmy Greaves, who has scored 266 goals for Spurs, for the all-time Spurs record.

In the 48th minute, Ivan Perisic sent a cross from the left side to Harry Kane, who headed it past Vicente Guaita at the near post. The game was tied at 0-0.

Kane gave Spurs a two-goal lead when the ball fell to Bryan Gil on the right side of the field. Gil flicked the ball to Kane, and the England forward sent a low shot into the bottom left corner.

Midway through the second half, Matt Doherty made it 3-0, and Son Heung-min scored the last goal four minutes later. Spurs now have 33 points, just two behind fourth-place Manchester United.