Tottenham vs Cardiff: Eric Dier's early goal sees off 10-man Cardiff City

Eric Dier's first Tottenham goal in 18 months ensured there would be no Champions League hangover for Mauricio Pochettino's side.

And while Tottenham's participation in this season's competition remains hanging by a thread, they are still on course to dine at Europe's top table again next season via the Premier League.

This win moved Tottenham to 18 points, equalling their best ever tally after eight league matches.

They made heavy weather of winning the game though after scoring early on via Dier and had to ride their luck at times against a Cardiff side who played with ten men since the 58th minute following Joe Ralls' red card.

The contrasts couldn't be clearer from facing Barcelona just 72 hours earlier to coming up against newly-promoted Cardiff.

Neil Warnock's winless side are not known for their eye-catching style of football but the Cardiff manager would have been hoping that the midweek game would have taken it's toll on Spurs' energy levels.

Cardiff's game-plan was clear. With ten men behind the ball, it was to frustrate the hosts.

But that was out of the window inside eight minutes. Kieran Trippier's cross was flicked on by Davison Sanchez and took a fortunate rebound off Joe Bennett and into the path of Dier.

The England midfielder was never going to miss from close-range and Cardiff were again starring down the barrel.

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Harry Arter's quick feet brought a routine save out of Hugo Lloris, the Tottenham goalkeeper, but it was at the other end of the pitch where the action was taking place.

Sanchez was a shot saved by Neil Etheridge before he gathered Lucas Moura's tame effort.

Etheridge looked set for another busy afternoon but it was Lloris who came close to co​nceding after 23 minutes.

Lloris was at fault for his rush of blood against Barcelona in conceding the first goal, but here he was guilty of staying on his line. And it so nearly cost the hosts as Cardiff came agonisingly close to a leveller.

Josh Murphy made the most of the mix-up and lifted the ball over the advancing Lloris only for Toby Alderweireld to clear off his own line with Junior Hoilett inches away from turning it home.

Cardiff were far from being outplayed and the home side's supporters were becoming increasingly restless in what they were seeing. The worry for the Welsh side was that they hadn't capitalised on Spurs switching off.

When Spurs did find their feet, they looked increasingly likely to add to their score. Heung-min Son skipped past Bruno Manga and his pull back saw Moura, moments after the Brazilian headed just over, slide the ball wide with the goal his mercy.

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Son then blazed wildly over after a flowing moved carved open the Cardiff defence in the 44th minute. It was another let-off that Cardiff had perhaps deserved for their endeavour.

And they needed another slide of fortune to stay in the match moments after the break. Danny Rose's cross was met by Kane, only for Etheridge to keep out the header. The rebound fell to Moura but his low shot was somehow cleared off his own line by Sean Morrison.

Cardiff just had to withstand this early onslaught as Kane drove inches wide of the target after 57 minutes.

But their chances of earning a surprise result took a major hit when Ralls was red carded. Ralls was never going to win the foot race and took out Moura off the ball. It was cynical rather than dangerous but, after a brief melee, Dean sent Ralls heading for an early bath.

Tottenham were now in compete control but Cardiff still posed a real threat from set-pieces. And they almost took hauled themselves level, with Sean Morrison's downward header from Victor Camarasa's free-kick being pushed onto the post by Lloris.

Tottenham were happy to see out the game with few scares, ensuring Cardiff dropped to the bottom. They at least could console themselves that they remain the only Premier League side to prevent Kane from scoring against. And not many teams can say that.