KANE BREAKS HIS AUGUST GOAL HOODOO
England duo Kane & Trippier on top of world
KIERAN TRIPPIER and Harry Kane brought the World Cup feelgood factor back home as Tottenham got off to a winning start on their return to Wembley.
But England’s stars were then told by Mauricio Pochettino they now need to win silverware with their club after failing with their country.
The north London club have suffered a difficult August with no signings in the transfer window and a delay in their return to White Hart Lane.
And Premier League newboys Fulham threatened to add to their problems when Aleksandar Mitrovic equalised Lucas Moura’s firsthalf opener.
But England’s World Cup heroes then returned to centre stage to relieve the tension. In his first appearance of the season, Trippier stepped forward to curl home a 30-yard free-kick reminiscent of his dead-ball stunner in the World Cup semi-final against Croatia.
And Golden Boot winner Kane, who had always seemed to have a difficult August, finally found the net after 1,075 minutes without a Premier League goal in the eighth month to seal the win.
Tottenham boss Pochettino said: “I am very happy with the victory but it is important now to improve. The most important thing is to keep humble and working and in the end England didn’t win. Still with Tottenham we didn’t win.
“That is the truth. Only Hugo (Lloris) won. In football we are here to win not to be fourth or third or second. We have to show we are winners by winning trophies.
“The performance was good of course but we need to perform as well at Old Trafford on Monday. We need to show we are ready to compete.”
A week that started with an apology from Spurs over White Hart Lane nearly ended with a sorry performance in front of goal at Wembley.
For 43 minutes, they wasted chances until Brazilian Moura curled in his first Premier League goal off the post.
Fulham came out stronger after the break and Mitrovic had hit the post before levelling after 52 minutes. Joe Bryan’s cross was knocked back by Ryan Sessegnon and the Serbian nodded home on his knees. Spurs looked stodgy with Fulham crowding out Christian Eriksen in the middle. Pochettino responded by sending on Mousa Dembele and then Erik Lamela to open up the game. After Kane had hit the bar, Trippier curled in his super free-kick after 74 minutes. Three minutes later the Three Lions captain slotted home to score in his 15th Premier League game in August.
Kane said: “It looked like it would be one of those days for me. As a striker you want to score in every game so when you have something like this on your back you want to get it off, score and move on so thankfully I scored and we won which is most important.”
“I am very happy for him,” added Pochettino. “It was important for him to feel the net in this period. If not, it becomes a big trauma.”
For Fulham, Slavisa Jokanovic gave debuts to £22.3million midfield signing Andre-frank Zambo Anguissa and onloan Manchester United right-back Timothy Fosumensah but his team is a work in progress.
Jokanovic said: “It is a shame – our team made a great effort. We pushed hard and competed well. We showed a few positive things but we need time.”
In football we are here to win not be second, third or fourth