Stoke City completed the top-flight double over 10-man Tottenham Hotspur for the first time in 33 attempts to strengthen their grip on a top-half finish with a convincing 3-0 win at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.

Charlie Adam headed Mark Hughes' men in-front from inside the six-yard box in the 21st minute, after the Potters had started off well. Spurs threatened to level when they hit the crossbar a few minutes later, as Marc Muniesa almost scored an own-goal but the home side doubled the lead through Steven N'Zonzi just 11 minutes later after an error involving Eric Dier and Hugo Lloris allowed him to side-foot into an empty net.

Vlad Chiriches received a second-yellow card early into the second-half as Spurs' afternoon went into disarray. The visitors never really recovered and Mame Biram Diouf sealed a disappointing afternoon for the north London side, rounding off the scoring in the 86th minute as Tottenham fell to their second defeat the hands of Stoke this season.

Both sides equalled each other punch-for-punch in the early stages, as they shared periods of possession. After a succession of corners, Hugo Lloris was forced to tip Marc Muniesa's stinging volley from the edge of the area over his crossbar as Stoke started well.

Only a few minutes later, Christian Eriksen managed to find some space in between the lines and tried to release Harry Kane through on goal - but the in-form striker could not bring it under control and it drifted away for Jack Butland to gather.

Hughes' men defended well throughout the first 45 minutes, closing down Spurs' main threats and restricting the space in which they could operate within when in possession.

Spurs did begin to demonstrate their attacking qualities as they grew into the first-half, Kane doing excellently to side-step the sliding challenge of N'Zonzi inside the area - but his cross into the box was well held by Butland at the near post.

Yet just as Mauricio Pochettino's side began to click offensively, Stoke were right back at their throats. Lloris was forced into another fine diving save after the lively Marko Arnautovic cut onto the inside of Federico Fazio and struck a fierce effort towards goal.

But the breakthrough finally came in the 21st minute, as Charlie Adam gave the hosts' a deserved lead with his sixth goal of the season. Mame Biram Diouf was the first to latch on to a dropping ball in the final third, and after beating Vlad Chiriches to the corner flag, he was allowed too much room to spin and fizz a cross into the area. Jan Vertonghen, attempting to head clear, inadvertently flicked the ball into the path of Adam - who had drifted in between the two centre-backs to head in unmarked from close-range.

Tottenham almost equalised within three minutes, after Erik Lamela won a free-kick around 30-yards from goal. The Argentine spun the ball in towards the penalty spot, which Muniesa accidentally flicked towards his own goal after slicing his header. Fortunately for the Spaniard, the ball ricocheted kindly back off the crossbar after Butland managed to get a slight fingertip touch.

Pochettino's side continued to drive forward in search of an equaliser, as Vertonghen's low cross was turned away from the left flank. But it was Stoke who were the side with greater intent going forward, as Arnautovic - an effective outlet ball - caused problems down the left-hand side.

It was the Austrian who troubled Lloris again after cutting inside from the left and hitting a bouncing right-footed strike which the Frenchman managed to keep out.

Stoke were the side on top as the half-hour mark approached, and they finally made their pressure pay - profitting from a dreadful defensive Spurs mix-up. Lloris came to meet Adam's long ball into the box, tangling with right-back Eric Dier who never saw his goalkeeper coming and the ball rolled out to the feet of N'Zonzi - who found the bottom corner with a neat side-footed finish from 15-yards out.

Once again, Spurs almost struck back immediately after Ryan Mason collected the ball after a fortuitous deflection, but his powerful low effort was watched all the way by Butland - who impressed yet again after being the Potters' best player in last weekend's loss to Swansea.

With Spurs' faint top-four hopes flickering, Mason's cross from inside the area was well blocked by Ryan Shawcross as the visitors struggled to create any clear-cut chances for themselves. Up the other end, it was Arnautovic who continued to receive plenty of joy down the left, testing Lloris again in the final few minutes of the first-half with a low effort towards the near post.

Likewise, with Spurs struggling to force Butland into any meaningul action - Mason scuffed his attempted volley after the ball had bounced awkwardly in front of him in the final minutes of the first-half.

Almost immediately after the interval, Eriksen looked to turn the tide back in Spurs' favour after a speculative long-range effort which Butland was forced to push over his bar.

Their day went from bad to worse just five minutes into the second-half, when Chiriches was hesitant to pass and Diouf stole the ball off him down the right flank. Desperate to atone for his error, the Romanian defender tried to retrieve the ball but could only pull back the striker - forcing referee Mark Clattenberg to issue his second yellow card of the afternoon.

That forced Pochettino into another unwelcome tactical switch, Bentaleb dropping back into left-back as Vertonghen moved centrally. They continued to send men forward as they looked for a way back into the game, but young goalkeeper Butland was fastest to Mason's through ball with Eriksen threatening to reach it.

It was Stoke who continued to look more imposing in possession, playing the ball about with confidence and purpose as they looked to reap yet more misery on their 10-man opponents.

Goalscorer Adam almost did just that, driving forward into the box before switching weight onto his right foot with Fazio backing off - but Lloris was able to push the effort round the post, before managing to deal with the midfielder's curling corner-kick delivery which almost sneaked its way between the Spurs captain and his near post.

Pochettino threw on his side's most used substitute Roberto Soldado on the hour mark, as the game fell further away from them. Dier's deflected header whilsting wide, but the resulting corner came to little after Glenn Whelan hooked away Eriksen's initial cross before Diouf dealt with the Dane's second attempt.

The game soon began to settle, as Spurs struggled to find their threats up-front with Kane starved of service despite their attempts to up the tempo.

The Young Player of the Year, who has scored 28 goals in all competitions, almost found himself with a sniff of goal as he worked his way towards the goal following a one-two with Eriksen - but Whelan was on hand to force a corner.

With just 15 minutes to go, Stoke almost added a third as Diouf unselfishly headed down and across to Walters from close-range - but Lloris was across to smother.

Pochettino's side pegged the home side back for longer stages in the second-half, but they failed to make anything significant of it. Again, it was the Potters who came closest to equalising but Walters struck straight at Lloris from six-yards after a fantastic ball across the box from Shawcross.

Spurs came closest with just nine minutes remaining, as Eriksen looked to bend and dip a free-kick towards the top-corner but it dropped a yard or so wide of the far post as Butland watched on.

They continued to probe for openings as the clock ticked down, winning numerous set-pieces. Kane's delivery from the left curled nicely into a dangerous area, but 22-year-old Butland - as he was all game - was comfortably equal to it.

Stoke finally killed off Spurs' hopes of a comeback in the final minutes as the superb Arnautovic delivered a perfect ball across the box for Diouf to side-foot home for a third. The Austrian almost rounded off his spectacular performance with a fourth late on, but he could only curl his effort narrowly over the crossbar as the hosts saw out a 3-0 win.

Spurs had realistically conceded defeat in the race for Champions League football some time ago, but finally had their hopes definitively ended in Staffordshire with their 12th loss of the campaign - their worst tally of defeats since 2008-09.

Stoke's win means that they took advantage of Everton's loss to Sunderland earlier in the day to open up a five-point gap over Roberto Martinez' 11th-placed side with just two games remaining of the season. They now sit on 50-points, the record points total that they set themselves last season and need just one point from their games against Burnley and Liverpool to set a new record.

Stoke City (3) Tottenham Hotspur (0)
Butland 7 Lloris 6
Cameron 6 Dier 5
Muniesa 6 Fazio 4
Shawcross 6 Chiriches 4
Pieters 6 Vertonghen 5
Whelan 6 Bentaleb 5
N'Zonzi 8 Mason 6
Arnautovic 8 Lamela 5
Adam 7 Chadli 5
Walters 7 Eriksen 6
Diouf 6 Kane 5
Subsitutes
Ireland 5 Soldado 5
Odemwingie - Dembele 5
Sidwell - - -