Kane fires hat-trick as Spurs state their intent
You have got to go back to the days of Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker for Tottenham Hotspur’s last FA Cup success, but Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen gave notice they are ready to try to repeat the achievement of the 1991 team.
Kane, starting his first FA Cup game of the season, scored a brilliant hat-trick at Craven Cottage to make it 20 goals in 22 London derbies and secure Tottenham’s place in the quarter-finals, in which they will play Millwall at White Hart Lane.
The England international’s first two goals owed much to the superb Eriksen and, although it was against Championship opposition, Tottenham’s performance yesterday served as a statement of intent. They are very much up for the Cup.
The victory was also a valuable confidence boost, following successive defeats by Liverpool in the Premier League and Gent in the Europa League, after which manager Mauricio Pochettino and his players held meetings over how to get the winning feeling back.
Whatever was said clearly did the trick, as Pochettino said: “After Gent, we had a few meetings and the reaction was fantastic. I am very pleased. Now we’ll try and keep that feeling for Thursday [in the second leg of the Europa League].
“After two defeats, in football, that feeling when you lose is too difficult. It was important for us. All the players wanted to play and take the responsibility today in a very difficult stadium, against a very difficult team – a side who try to play, a great manager and very good players.
“After 3-0 it looks as if it was easy, but that was because we took the game on in a very good way. We showed them full respect, but played as we need to play in every game.”
Much of the pre-match debate centred on what type of team Pochettino would name, given Tottenham’s packed fixture list and last Thursday’s defeat in Belgium.
The Argentine demonstrated how seriously he is taking this competition by sticking with Kane, Dele Alli and Victor Wanyama, and bringing back Eriksen.
Eriksen and Alli were influential from the start and combined to give Tottenham a fourth-minute lead. Alli headed the ball through and the Dane’s shot was tipped wide by Fulham goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli.
Bettinelli was then grateful to see a well-struck drive from Alli bounce just wide of his right-hand post, as Spurs made it clear they meant business.
Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic resisted the temptation to keep 16-year-old Ryan Sessegnon in his starting line-up. Tottenham are one of a number of clubs interested in the left-back and will have been pleased he was not playing, as Scott Malone suffered a torrid afternoon. Malone switched off following a stray pass from Tim Ream in the lead up to Tottenham’s deserved opening goal in the 16th minute. Kieran Trippier took a quick throwin over the head of Malone to release Eriksen, who crossed for Kane to stab the ball into the net. With Hugo Lloris being rested, Kane wore the captain’s armband and clearly relished the responsibility, although deputy goalkeeper Michel Vorm almost gifted Fulham an equaliser. Vorm scuffed a kick straight to Fulham captain Tom Cairney, but recovered to save the midfielder’s first-time
largely dominant in the first half, Tottenham’s travelling fans worked their way through an array of different songs that included “Arsène Wenger, we want you to stay”. A strange choice, given that Arsenal have never finished below Spurs in the table with the Frenchman in charge.
Jan Vertonghen returned from five weeks out with an ankle injury for Tottenham and will have appreciated the fact he was rarely tested before or after the break.
The only thing missing from the first-half performance was a second goal, but that quickly came after the restart and it was Eriksen and Kane who combined again.
Eriksen sent in a cross from the right and Kane got in ahead of Ream to volley the ball past Bettinelli and effectively secure Tottenham’s progress.
Kane almost got through again in the 56th minute, but overran the ball into the grateful hands of Bettinelli. Jokanovic had seen enough and replaced Floyd Ayité with Sessegnon.
Fulham’s change made difference. Eriksen was just too good for his opponents and created another chance that Alli volleyed over the bar from inside the penalty area.
Kane looked sure to complete his hat-trick with 20 minutes remaining as he got away from Ream once again, but his lob over Bettinelli was just too high.
The 23-year-old only had to wait three more minutes to make sure he took home the match ball, however, as Alli played him in to finish coolly past the helpless Bettinelli.
Kane, who has now scored five hat-tricks for Tottenham, more than Lineker, said: “I thought the manager was going to take me off, so when I had that chance and put it over the bar I thought that was the last chance I was going to have. But, fortunately, I was able to sneak the third one in before I got taken off.”
In a season in which so many of the Premier League ‘big boys’ have given their lower-league opponents a chance, you had to feel slightly for Fulham. They never got a sniff.