A hat-trick from Fernando Llorente and two goals from Serge Aurier, the first a thumping drive from distance that Harry Kane could hardly have bettered, saw Tottenham into the FA Cup fourth round at the expense of Tranmere Rovers. The League Two side managed to live with their illustrious opponents for most of the first half but were outclassed after the interval, with Son Heung-min pulling the strings. Kane even took the field with the score at 6-0 and managed to add a seventh before the end, taking his tally for the season to 19 and bringing Spurs a 33rd goal in 33 days as well as their biggest away win ever in the FA Cup.

“Maybe we are different to everyone else, we always like to be positive,” Mauricio Pochettino said. “I don’t think it was a risk at all to send Harry on for a few minutes. Strikers like to score goals and he got one. We take all the competitions we are in seriously and I also think you need to show respect to the supporters when you are away from home. Some of the people who paid money to see the game probably did so in the hope they might see Harry Kane in action.”

Son had a great chance to open the scoring after eight minutes when he raced clear through the middle to take advantage of a deflection from a defender that fell into his path. He had only Scott Davies to beat but shot early and unconvincingly, allowing the goalkeeper to save with his legs. Davies made a rather better save a few minutes later when Connor Jennings lingered too long on the ball in his own half, inviting Juan Foyth to dispossess him with a crunching tackle. The ball again broke kindly for Son, who this time slipped Lucas Moura in to his left, only for the goalkeeper to leave his line quickly to smother the low shot.

Spurs did not have their very best team with Kane joined on the bench by Moussa Sissoko, Christian Eriksen and Toby Alderweireld. They were in control of the game nonetheless and almost took the lead on the half-hour when Llorente volleyed narrowly over from a corner. Manny Monthe rose to meet a Liam Ridehalgh corner at the other end shortly afterwards, obliging Paulo Gazzaniga to make his first save of the game to prevent the header creeping under the crossbar.

Just when Rovers must have been thinking they might reach half-time unscathed Aurier put Spurs ahead with an unstoppable screamer from 30 yards out. Aurier had merely been standing in the centre of the pitch to provide notional cover at a Tottenham corner when a series of half-clearances by Tranmere sent the ball his way. He was a long way out but his first-time shot had power and accuracy and arrowed unerringly into Davies’ top-left corner.

There was very little chance for Tranmere to do anything to save the game as Tottenham increased their lead almost immediately after the break. Son made one of his irresistible charges to the goalline and might well have shot had not the angle been so narrow. Instead he looked up and picked out Llorente perfectly and the Spanish striker tucked away one of the easier goals of his Spurs career from the six-yard line.

Tranmere did have an opportunity to pull a goal back when the ball broke to Harvey Gilmour a few yards out, though with the goal at his mercy the midfielder put his shot over the bar. Lucas nearly added a third for the visitors when he skipped neatly around Stephen McNulty but tripped himself up in the process of rounding the goalkeeper.

It hardly mattered – Spurs were still four goals up before the hour mark. First Son set up Aurier for his second goal of the evening, a less spectacular effort than the first with the ball only just evading the Tranmere defenders’ efforts to stop it on the line, then Son popped up in space on the left and beat Davies with a low shot rolled into the far corner. When the South Korean was substituted a few minutes later he left the field to applause from all sides of the ground.

Two close-range finishes in quick succession from Llorente were harsh on Tranmere, as was the sight of Kane taking the field at 6-0 to replace him and lifting a shot over Davies 10 minutes from time. Ollie Banks had a shot saved and Jake Caprice might have done better with a shooting opportunity but Tranmere were rarely far enough upfield to seek consolation. They were too busy trying to keep the score in single figures.