Kane to the rescue
> … as Spurs hit back to avoid early exit
HARRY KANE kept alive Tottenham’s bid to reach the Champions League knockout stages as the England striker’s late double inspired a dramatic 2-1 win over PSV Eindhoven yesterday.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side were only 12 minutes away from being eliminated as they struggled to recover from Luuk De Jong’s opener for PSV after 61 seconds at Wembley.
But England captain Kane came to the rescue with a predatory equaliser before heading the crucial last-gasp winner with the aid of a deflection off PSV’s Trent Sainsbury.
With two matches remaining, at home to Inter Milan on Nov 28 and away to Barcelona on Dec 11, Tottenham remain in third place in Group B. But the north London club are now just three points behind second-placed Inter and have their fate back in their own hands. While Tottenham are far from certain to make the last 16, they could at least allow themselves a huge sigh of relief after staving off elimination at the group stage for the second time in three seasons. “We were just on the attack all the time,” said Kane. “In the end we managed to take a couple but I think we deserved it. “We had to dig deep and find another level when it mattered. The whole season we’ve been grinding out results here and there.
“Obviously we’d like to be higher up the table in the League and doing better in the Champions League, but we’re still fighting.”
Spurs still face an uphill task to reach the knockout stage as they need to beat Inter and most likely Barcelona.
“It’s another game we must win, we want to have the possibility to go to the next stage,” said Pochettino, who praised his players’ efforts after an arduous run of four games in eight days.
“The team is growing up. In these four games, three victories, we lost to Man City and I think the draw was more the fair result.
“Pleased of course, we’re always trying to improve, but with all the circumstances the team is fighting.” – AFP