Kane saves Spurs, another Sterling effort by City
After having watched Manchester City and Liverpool begin the English Premier League with emphatic wins, Tottenham provided extra excitement with two late Harry Kane goals bagging a 3-1 victory over promoted Aston Villa yesterday.
Spurs’ record signing Tanguy Ndombele also netted on his debut as Mauricio Pochettino’s side was forced to dig deep after conceding an early goal.
Manchester City delivered their own statement earlier by routing West Ham 5-0 at the London Stadium, a day after Liverpool’s campaign began with a 4-1 win over Norwich.
‘‘They set the standard from minute go,’’ Kane said of the two pre-season favourites. ‘‘We kept with them for a while last year and then fell off towards the second half of the season. It is important we don’t fall too far behind too early. We have got to keep up with them.’’
Despite missing a good chance before the break, Kane looked sharp in his first game of the season.
‘‘We talk very highly about him. I think he’s been on a nice holiday,’’ Pochettino said of the England captain.
The Spurs manager was delighted to see his side fight back after falling behind to John McGinn’s ninth-minute strike, with Ndombele levelling in the 73rd. Kane finished coolly to put Spurs ahead in the 86th, four minutes before the forward sealed the win.
‘‘We knew it would be a tough baptism,’’ Villa coach Dean Smith said.
Raheem Sterling scored a hattrick and there were three incidents involving VAR as Manchester City started their bid for a third straight title by stretching their winning league run to 15 games.
West Ham might have pulled one back but Ederson made a double-save from Javier Hernandez and Manuel Lanzini.
Gabriel Jesus opened the scoring in the 25th, and Kevin de Bruyne set up Sterling in the 51st, before Jesus had a well-worked team effort ruled out by VAR for offside.
Sterling’s second in the 75th was cleared by VAR before technology intervened again when Sergio Aguero had a penalty saved. Declan Rice was penalised for encroaching in the area and Aguero duly scored at the second attempt in the 86th.
Sterling wrapped it up in injury time to become the first player since Chelsea’s Didier Drogba in 2010-11 to start with a hat-trick on the league’s opening weekend.
Brighton beat Watford 3-0 in a dream debut for new manager Graham Potter.
In the 64th minute, Potter sent on two forwards – new signing Neal Maupay and Romanian striker Florin Andone – with Brighton leading 1-0. Both then went on to score.
Potter enjoyed considerable success with Swedish side Ostersunds FK before taking over Championship club Swansea last season.
In the other games, Crystal Palace were held to a goalless draw by 10-man Everton. Ashley Barnes scored twice as Burnley enjoyed a 3-0 victory against Southampton, and substitute Billy Sharp scored a late equaliser to help promoted Sheffield United draw 1-1 at Bournemouth.