Kane hails Spurs’ character after his late show keeps dream alive
HARRY Kane was the familiar hero as his two late goals earned Tottenham a 2-1 win over PSV and kept their Champions League hopes alive.
Spurs’ faltering Group B campaign looked like hitting a new low after Luuk de Jong put the Dutch side ahead after only a minute at Wembley, which left Mauricio Pochettino’s men on the brink of being knocked out.
But Kane stood up when it mattered to rescue his side, equalising in the 78th minute and then being the beneficiary of an extremely kind deflection 11 minutes later to complete the turnaround.
The win, Spurs’ first of the group stage, leaves them in third place, three points behind Inter Milan, who visit Wembley in three weeks.
They will need to win that game and will have to be more clinical than they were against PSV, who should have been put to bed long before Kane’s late heroics.
Regardless, goalscorer Kane believed there were plenty of positives to take from Spurs’ performance, particularly their ability to find the three points.
“We said we were disappointed coming away from (Holland). Today it wasn’t ideal conceding early but then we were dominant and created chances,” said Kane.
“We could have been more clinical but we’ll just take a win in the Champions League. We had to dig deep and find another level when it mattered.
“We have been grinding results out here and there all season. We are getting wins. Today was one of our best performances of the season.”
Spurs could not have envisaged having to go on a rescue mission as early as they did as they fell behind with only 62 seconds on the clock.
Their vulnerability from set-pieces was again exposed as De Jong, who scored PSV’s late equaliser in Eindhoven a fortnight ago, out-jumped everyone and planted a header into the corner of the net.
The hosts dusted themselves down and the chances soon
racked up for them to have turned the game around by the half-hour mark.
Dele Alli had an effort cleared off the line, Christian Eriksen’s deflected strike flew just wide before a dynamic run by Lucas Moura yielded three separate shots on goal, the last of which came with the Brazilian on the
floor where he hooked over.
PSV were frightened to death of Moura’s pace and he created another opening, but a smart double save from Jeroen Zoet kept the visitors ahead.
Alli, back in the side after being rested at the weekend, then had another glorious chance when Toby Alderweireld’s long ball set him free, but Zoet again came to the rescue.
The incessant Tottenham pressure continued after the break but, with PSV flooding their final third with bodies, clear chances were harder to come by.
Spurs eventually got their reward with 12 minutes of normal time remaining when Kane fired home his third goal of the Champions League campaign after latching on to Fernando Llorente’s knock down.
His fourth came in the 89th minute with a huge slice of luck as the England captain’s header hit two PSV defenders on the way to wrongfooting the unfortunate Zoet.
Spurs were not going to complain and all eyes are now on the clash with Inter Milan, who drew at home with Barcelona.