Hotshot Kane keeps Spurs on Chelsea’s heels
Clinical striker scores twice to take league tally to 19 and keep pressure on Chelsea
Whether scoring from distance or performing an intricate goal celebration, Harry Kane makes it look easy. No other player has been as consistently lethal in front of goal in England in the last three years. The Tottenham forward supplemented his repertoire of goals with a double in yesterday’s 3-2 victory over Everton.
A ninth successive home win in the Premier League buoyed Tottenham’s pursuit of Chelsea and asserted Kane’s striking supremacy. While Tottenham remain second in the league standings, Kane is now out on his own on the scoring leaderboard with 19 goals.
Kane edged ahead of challenger Romelu Lukaku after the Everton striker could only manage one goal in their striking showdown at White Hart Lane.
Kane’s first in the 20th minute was audacious but expertly executed, a strike unleashed from 35m that dipped past goalkeeper Joel Robles after he had skipped through Everton’s soft midfield resistance.
“It’s funny,” Kane said. “Me, Christian [Eriksen] and Eric Dier were just having a few shots after training yesterday from about that distance.
“When it came about [in the game], I got a bit of space and I thought, ‘It was a bit windy out there if I can just get a little wobble going’. And it managed to go in.”
And it gave Kane and Dele Alli a chance to flaunt their well-rehearsed celebration, involving fleeting handshakes and taps to the chest.
“We thought we’d come up with a little celebration,” Kane said, “and we’ll stick with it.”
Alli also gave little away about its conception.
“It’s quite complicated,” said Alli, who set up Kane’s second before scoring himself. “I think we got the hang of it straight away.”
Like so much these gifted Englishmen do on the field as well. They are at the vanguard of Tottenham’s quest for a first title since 1961, waiting in the wings for any Chelsea slip-ups to close their seven-point gap.
Kane’s second goal 11 minutes into the second half owed as much to Everton’s sloppiness as his own ability to seize on the opening. Robles rolled the ball out to the dithering Morgan Schneiderlin and it was intercepted by Alli as Moussa Dembele applied pressure. Alli threaded a pass through to Kane, who swept a shot low into the net for his 24th goal in all competitions this season.
The 23-year-old Kane is only four behind last season’s goal haul with more than two months remaining, even after missing 10 games through injury earlier in the season.
“He feels fresh because he trains a lot,” Pochettino said. “He makes a lot of double sessions, he’s professional and he takes care of himself. To be fresh you need to work hard every day. If you sleep, eat and forget to train maybe you are like me — fat.”
Pochettino was jovial, only because his players clung on to what should have been a comfortable victory. Entering the final 10 minutes, Lukaku finally had a shot on goal and became the first player to beat goalkeeper Hugo Lloris in the league at White Hart Lane since December with a side-footed finished.
But Spurs held on to end a ninegame unbeaten run for seventhplaced Everton on a weekend when north London rivals Arsenal fell six points behind Spurs by losing at Liverpool.
David Silva set up both goals as Manchester City won a fourth successive league match since being held by Tottenham.
Silva’s 38th-minute cross was turned into the net at point-blank range by Sergio Aguero and the Spanish playmaker’s defencesplitting through-ball in the 59th released Leroy Sane to net his sixth goal in 10 games.
Sunderland remain bottom, six points from safety.