KANE SHUTS DOR ON WEMBLEY JINX
Harry’s double finally makes Spurs feel at home
WEMBLEY feels a lot more like home now for Tottenham.
This was a fabulous, rip-roaring win against top-class European opposition and a vital one in terms of the dynamics of the group.
But it was also a night when Spurs forgot all about the so-called Wembley curse and Harry Kane proved he is right up there with the best strikers in the Champions League.
His brilliant double – it is now six goals in four games for club and country this month – destroyed Borussia Dortmund and provided what can be a launch pad for Tottenham’s European campaign on perhaps the night when they made Wembley their own.
Real Madrid are clear favourites to win Group H – they beat Apoel Nicosia 3-0 – and it could come down to Tottenham and Dortmund for second place. So the importance of this victory should not be underestimated.
It was a brilliant game, set up by a breathless start with Spurs ahead in the fourth minute when Christian Eriksen and Kane combined before putting Heung-Min Son through.
Son cut in from the left, Dortmund keeper Roman Burki showed him far too much of his near post and the Tottenham forward smashed the ball into the net.
The goal brought Wembley alive but Dortmund’s response was both quick and impressive. They stormed forward and were level after 11 minutes.
Andriy Yarmolenko played a one-two with Shinji Kagawa and then curled a stunning 20-yard shot past Hugo Lloris and into the top corner.
But as good as Dortmund were going forward, they were poor at the back and Burki looked a liability playing behind an injury-hit defence.
Tottenham went ahead again on the quarter hour when Kane broke down the left, shrugged off Sokratis Papastathopoulos and brushed aside Nuri Sahin.
While Dortmund were appealing for a foul, Burki was getting his angles all wrong again and Kane fired a shot inside the near post.
It was a brilliant finish but for a keeper to be beaten at his near post once is bad, twice is unforgivable.
Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had a brilliant effort flagged offside – TV replays showed it was the wrong decision – and not long after things became even worse for the visitors when Kane got Tottenham’s third on the hour.
Eriksen fed Kane, who smashed a low 20-yard shot beyond Burki’s despairing dive and inside the far post. It was Eriksen’s 20th assist in all competitions this year, seven more than any player in Europe’s top five leagues.
The only downside for Mauricio Pochettino (above) was Jan Vertonghen’s sending off. He picked up what appeared a harsh second yellow card when an arm caught Dortmund substitute Mario Gotze.
Not only do Tottenham have a deadly finisher in Kane, they have the best provider and now seem to have overcome their bout of homesickness.