1 ................... STOKE but Town frustrated! Kane simply world class says boss
moments later, when Lossl made arguably the save of the season from the Stoke winger’s bicycle kick.
The great Dane stretched out a firm hand to palm the ball onto a post an inch before it crossed the line, before claiming the loose ball.
After an enormous amount of goalmouth action condensed into a minute, the rest of the half ticked by at a slower pace, with only Rajiv Van La Parra forcing either keeper into a save – with Butland scrambling to his left to keep out the Dutchman’s curled effort after cutting inside from the left wing.
The visitors did have the ball in the back of the net in the final minute of added time in the first period, but the threatening Choupo-Moting was rightly flagged offside.
The first chance in the second half fell to Town’s record signing Mounie, with the Benin forward’s overhead kick flashing narrowly over the bar.
Shaqiri also went close with a curled effort, but Lossl watched it safely bend wide of his goal before Ince fired into Butland’s hands at the other end.
Town looked likelier to get the second of the match, with Quaner – now looking for his fourth assist of the season - at the heart of the attacking play down the right.
The German inadvertently found Van La Parra in on goal 10 minutes into the half, but the Stoke stopper did well to smother the winger’s strike on goal. Mounie fired narrowly over in the next phase, but Town’s inability to find the second came back to haunt them.
Stoke sprung quickly from a free kick in the Town half, with Allen careering down the left.
The Wales international rolled an inviting cross into the box, which evaded everyone before Sobhi tapped in unmarked at the back post.
Town’s response was almost immediate, with Quaner testing Butland with a bobbling effort from the edge of the box.
The resultant corner led to a contentious point in the match, with Mooy being brought down by Allen in the box. Tom Ince (right) scores his first Premier League goal for Town to give them the lead against Stoke and (inset) looks to the sky in celebration. Pics: John Rushworth
Replays showed the Stoke midfielder clearly taking out the Australian, but Anthony Taylor waved away the Terriers’ protests.
The referee was back in the spotlight minutes later, when he denied the visitors a penalty following Christopher Schindler’s tackle on substitute Mame Biram Diouf.
The German centre half did seem to catch the striker, with it possibly being a case of the official evening up the spot-kick decisions.
In an end-to-end half, both teams came close to breaking the stalemate, but Lossl was there once again to deny Crouch’s back-post header, while Butland made a smart save to deny Lolley’s driven shot at his front post. MAURICIO Pochettino hailed “world class” Harry Kane after the striker smashed the Premier League record for goals in a calendar year with a matchwinning hat-trick.
Kane needed just one strike to surpass Alan Shearer’s 22-year-old record of 36 goals but he broke it in style with a superb Wembley treble in the 5-2 demolition of Southampton.
The England international, who has made history in just 36 appearances compared with Shearer’s 42 for Blackburn in 1995, put Spurs into a two-goal half-time lead with a close-range header and a simple tap-in before completing his second successive hat-trick with a dinked finish over Saints goalkeeper Fraser Forster for his side’s fifth.
Kane’s third goal also moved him ahead of Barcelona forward Lionel Messi for the most goals for club and country by any player in Europe’s major leagues in 2017, delighting manager Pochettino.
“First of all I want to congratulate Harry Kane, massive achievement for him, well deserved,” he said.
“And we are all so, so, so, so happy because it’s an amazing thing to celebrate. “For me, he’s world class.” Substitute Jesse Lingard came to Manchester United’s rescue as his second-half double secured a 2-2 draw with Burnley at Old Trafford. The stadium was left stunned in the first half as the Clarets claimed a 2-0 lead via Ashley Barnes’ close-range finish in the third minute and Steven Defour’s superb strike (36.
Having come on for Zlatan Ibrahimovic at the interval, Lingard then pulled a goal back eight minutes after the break with a back-heel before striking an equaliser in stoppage time.
Third-placed Chelsea defeated Brighton 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Alvaro Morata registered his 10th league goal of the season with a header in the opening minute of the second half and Marcos Alonso added another. Bournemouth 3 West Ham 3, Watford 2 Leicester 1, West Brom 0 Everton 0, Liverpool 5 Swansea 0. ■■Middlesbrough have appointed Tony Pulis as manager.