Gareth Bale produced his most impressive performance since returning on loan to Tottenham Hotspur with two goals in his side's 4-0 win over Burnley in the Premier League on Sunday.
The Welshman continued his recent resurgence by marking only his third league start of the season with the opening goal after only two minutes, prodding in from close range.
He then set up Harry Kane for Tottenham's second after 15 minutes before Lucas Moura made it 3-0 before halftime.
Bale then claimed his second of the game with a clinical finish after 55 minutes as Tottenham returned to form in the league having lost five of its previous six games.
The impressive win left Tottenham in the eighth spot with 39 points from 25 games and revived its hopes of finishing in the top four.
Bale's lack of Premier League game time has been something of an anti-climax after the club's former talisman returned in October on loan from Real Madrid having left in 2013.
But the four-time Champions League winner is finally beginning to show the kind of form that persuaded the Spanish giants to sign him for 100 million euros ($120.74 million).
He has now scored four times in his last four appearances in all competitions and although he did not register in the loss by West Ham United last week, he was eye-catching as a second-half substitute.
Lukaku inspires Inter to extend Serie A lead
Inter Milan, meanwhile, moved seven points clear at the top of Serie A as Romelu Lukaku scored after 32 seconds and bagged an assist in a 3-0 win over midtable Genoa.
The Belgian striker drove through the heart of the visiting defense and fired in his 18th league goal of the season to register his club’s second-fastest Serie A strike since Opta started taking records in 2004.
Lukaku teed up Matteo Darmian for Inter’s second after 69 minutes and was again involved for its third when his shot was saved but headed in on the rebound by substitute Alexis Sanchez.
The result leaves league leader Inter four points ahead of second-placed AC Milan, who beat Roma 2-1 later on Sunday.
Genoa, whose seven-match unbeaten league run came to an end, is 13th with 26 points.
Atletico respond with Villarreal victory
La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid secured a vital 2-0 win away to Villarreal to reaffirm its title ambitions following a difficult run of results.
Diego Simeone's side was smarting from defeat to Levante and Champions League loss to Chelsea but went ahead in the 25th minute courtesy of an Alfonso Pedraza own goal following a goalmouth scramble, the strike being flagged offside then given after a VAR review.
Atletico survived another video review just before halftime when Thomas Lemar was shown a yellow card rather than a red for elbowing an opponent before record signing Joao Felix came off the bench to double its lead in the 69th on the volley.
A first win in four games in all competitions moved Atletico on to 58 points after 24 games, five clear of second-placed Barcelona, who has played 25, and six above third-placed Real Madrid.
Real play at home to Real Sociedad on Monday before visiting Atletico next Sunday in a crucial game in the title race.
"This win gives us a lot of confidence and puts us back on the path we were on before and now we're really looking forward to the derby," said Stefan Savic.
"This was a very important game in a ground that is always difficult for us, we were on a bad run, but we stood tall."
Villarreal slid down to seventh in the standings on 37 points and is without a win in its last seven league games.
"We're annoyed, we're finding it very difficult to score goals at the moment, behind we find it very hard to get back into a game and we need to bring an end to this run," said striker Gerard Moreno.
