Kane penalty triggers Spurs’ caning of Leeds
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 3 Kane 29 pen, Son (43), Alderweireld (50) LEEDS UNITED 0
Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho said his side showed the desired attacking intent in the victory over Leeds which ended a four-game winless run in the Premier League.
Harry Kane and Son Heung-min were the stars of the show as they equalled the Premier League record for most goal combinations in a season, levelling Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton’s tally of 13 from 1994-95.
This was done in just 16 games, though, as after Kane had opened the scoring from the spot, he teed up Son for his 100th goal for the club.
Toby Alderweireld’s second-half header killed the game, but Spurs could have won by a bigger margin as they went for more goals, a stark contrast to recent weeks.
It was the first time Spurs scored three times in a league game since they drew 3-3 with West Ham in October as the shackles finally came off after a month of sitting on leads.
Mourinho, who has copped flak for the negative style, said this was how he wanted his side to play.
“We could have scored more goals. We had good opportunities to score, and not just from Sonny and Kane,” he said.
“We had good scoring opportunities, good shooting positions – Tanguy (Ndombele), (Pierre-emile) Hojbjerg, (Steven) Bergwijn twice. And that pleases me, because I want the team to play with this kind of dynamic.
“I want more goals, especially from other players. And of course the result is important. We didn’t play the last match and the run of results in the least few weeks was not good so we needed these three points so we go up a little bit in the table.”
On Kane and Son, Mourinho added: “They are very good players as you know for many years. They play together of course for many years too. That together, plus the way we want them to interact, brings goals.”
The early signs for Leeds were promising as they found space and opportunities at the expense of Tottenham, who earlier on Saturday condemned players Erik Lamela, Sergio Reguilon and Giovani Lo Celso for breaking coronavirus rules.
Ezgjan Alioski drilled into the side-netting while Patrick Bamford put a free header over from 12 yards after he lost his marker.
Spurs, criticised for their lack of adventure in recent weeks, came to life and Kane flashed an effort over before Hojbjerg shot straight at Illan Meslier.
It was the hosts who broke the deadlock in the 29th minute, but Leeds more than played their part in their own downfall. Playing out from the back, goalkeeper Meslier misplaced a pass to Harry Winks, who found Steven Bergwijn and the Dutchman drew a foul out of Alioski.
Kane made no mistake from the spot as he fired home his 17th goal of the season.
Spurs should have doubled their lead five minutes later as Bergwijn did brilliantly to turn in the box, but he blazed over.
Leeds threatened a response as Jack Harrison curled just over and Bamford shot straight at Hugo Lloris, but the half ended badly as the hosts doubled their lead.
It was the trusted duo that came up trumps again for Spurs, as Kane whipped in a cross for Son at the near post and the South Korean brought up his ton with a neat finish.
Spurs killed the game five minutes after the restart with a third, but Meslier will not want to watch it back as his difficult afternoon continued.
He fumbled Alderweireld’s header from Son’s corner at the near post and goal-line technology ruled the ball had crossed the line by millimetres, though Eric Dier converted the rebound anyway.
Son chose the wrong option when he raced in on goal, Bergwijn saw an effort saved by Meslier, who also kept out Kane as he tried to redeem himself.
Leeds kept on pushing for a consolation but lacked the quality to make the breakthrough as Spurs won comfortably, even though Doherty picked up his second caution in added time.
Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa knew the difference in quality in attacking areas was the difference.
“In the game we created 10 chances and didn’t score any goals and our opponents created 12 and they scored three,” said Bielsa.
“The fundamental difference was the efficiency and the fact that their offensive game came about through errors we could have avoided. The capacity for our forwards to unbalance their defence was sufficient and the capacity to defend was also good. The situations that came about from us made it very difficult to defend from our own half and this is where we must polish our performance.”