IT’S 150 UP FOR KANE, BUT DELE IS DIVING AGAIN
FOR SO long, this seemed to be the day that would pass Harry Kane by.
We should know by now that such days do not exist. The 24-year-old struck the 150th goal of his club career, 134 of which have come in Tottenham colours, to propel his team back into the top four.
Another match, another late Kane goal. It is becoming a habit. He has now scored in nine of his last 10 games and in the other one he bullied Manchester United in a handsome Spurs victory.
Kane’s assault on Palace’s goal began early. He was clean through after Patrick van Aanholt’s miscued clearance but keeper Wayne Hennessey spread himself well and deflected the ball over.
In the second half, Kane was alone in the six-yard box as he took Christian Eriksen’s skilful cross on the volley first-time but side-footed wide.
Some forwards might have retreated, cowed by a couple of poor misses. Not Kane, who persevered. He weaved past two players in the box and fired low, hard and agonisingly wide.
Another chance would arrive. With Kane, it always does. In the 88th minute, Eriksen swung a corner to the far post, Kane peeled away, and headed back across goal and into the corner. ‘All talented players can miss chances,’ said Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino. ‘But what makes this type of player a top player is that, the moment after they miss, they forget about it and take another.’
For Spurs, this game threatened to develop into a backwards step after some splendid recent form against the great and good of English and European football. In the Premier League, it has been rather stop-start of late, trading wins and draws over the previous six games.
Tottenham were superior here and merited victory. But as they pursued a winner, the final throes were chaotic and Serge Aurier will still be wondering how he missed when perfectly placed to score from a low Ben Davies cross.
For Roy Hodgson, the late goal must have felt like a dagger to his stomach. His side were disciplined but have lost momentum at the wrong time. They are winless in their last five and Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool await in three of their next four matches.
Deprived of key defenders, Hodgson handed a debut to Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The 20-yearold academy product lined up on the right and did not for a moment look out of place.
Palace continue to try to make do without Wilfried Zaha, but have lost all of the eight Premier League matches in which the 25-year-old has not featured this season. Hodgson has tried to recalibrate his side to substance over style. In the circumstances, it was a mightily gutsy showing with Palace suffocating Eriksen for extended periods. But centre half James Tomkins, who had nullified Kane for 85 minutes, was forced off by cramp. At the set-piece moments later, replacement Damien Delaney lost Kane for the winner. Palace rarely threatened, only provoking alarm when Alexander Sorloth charged through and went down under Aurier’s superbly-timed tackle. Tottenham had clearer penalty shouts. On 30 minutes, Dele Alli stuck a foot in and Kane pounced, touching the ball away from Timothy Fosu-Mensah. The Dutch defender hacked Kane down and referee Kevin Friend blew for a penalty, but noticed his assistant had raised his flag because Kane was offside. A marginal call but the correct one.
On Sky, Graeme Souness felt Spurs might have had a penalty when Davies scampered on to Eriksen’s ball, squared and was taken down by Hennessey.
The final claim came midway through the second half. It was the most convincing, as Dele Alli looked to turn in the area and Van Aanholt nibbled at his ankles from behind. In the end, Spurs did not need it anyway.