Harry has got it all!

Two-goal hero one of the best strikers in the world, says Spurs boss Pochettino

IT WAS part reality-check, part initiation ceremony and it taught the team on the receiving end about the tiny margins of error when Harry Kane is staring into the whites of your eyes.

Kane’s two goals in a searing opening half-hour from Tottenham took his goals tally for September to 13 and made it seven in eight days for a 24-year-old who has now equalled Cristiano Ronaldo’s Premier League goals tally of 84.

Some perspective: Ronaldo took six seasons and 196 games to reach that tally with Manchester United. Kane is barely into his fourth full season with Spurs and has needed just 123 games.

He rolls off full-backs, threads chances for others, forages for possession and finishes with ice-cold calculation. Huddersfield know that now.

‘It is so difficult to speak every day about Harry Kane, finding a different word to describe him,’ his manager Mauricio Pochettino said after the victory. ‘He is great in front of the goal but when we don’t have the ball he is ready to run and fight. It makes him one of the best strikers in the world.’

It was nearly an hour after the final whistle before Huddersfield manager David Wagner appeared to discuss a desperately ragged defensive display.

‘If you give them a chance they will use it, if you give them a present they will certainly use it,’ said the German.

The match programme had eulogised about the frugality of the side who had hitherto conceded three goals in six games — their fewest in the top flight since Herbert Chapman’s side of 1924-25. Pochettino’s side put that many past them in a mere 23 minutes, with Kane the fulcrum.

He was looking for the net within two minutes of the start: spinning off Chris Lowe — who will be remembering this occasion with a shiver for weeks — to open up a shot that Mathias Zanka deflected wide. But Huddersfield were bearing such gifts that the forward did not need to wait much longer.

Lowe’s abject failure to deal with a clearing header by Kieran Trippier allowed Kane to race clear and bury the ninth-minute opening goal at goalkeeper Jonas Lossl’s near post.

There was a more tangible contribution by Kane to the second: a No10’s lay-off to Dele Alli in the early stages of a five-pass, one-touch move down the right which sent Christian Eriksen motoring clear. Lowe got a toe on the ball this time but managed only to send it squirting out to Ben Davies, entirely unmarked, who clipped it first time over Lossl and into the bottom corner.

The third was the game’s standout moment and evidence of the complete range Kane brings. Spinning off Jonathan Hogg, back to goal, he eased across the box, with Zanka and Hogg in vain pursuit, before shooting, left-footed, beyond the goalkeeper. Huddersfield showed ambition. Captain Tommy Smith dug out a powerful left-foot effort from 20 yards early on, sending Hugo Lloris into a diving, two-handed save. Laurent Depoitre later struck the upright.

But Tottenham were a class apart, attacking at a pace the home defence could not cope with. They seemed capable of scoring at will for 45 minutes. Alli flicked a tee-up that Kane lifted on to the roof of the net, then hit the post after leaving Zanka behind.

That was the best of Alli. The worst was the dive after he pushed a ball beyond Lossl in the second half, which saw him booked. Pochettino pulled no punches about his diving not helping ‘the player, or the team.’

Huddersfield were more resilient in the second half but Tottenham’s intensity had dropped by then. The scrappy fourth, in added time, encapsulated the home side’s poor display.

Elias Kachunga ceded possession to Alli and Spurs raced up the pitch, with substitute Moussa Sissoko’s strike deflected in off Christopher Schindler.

Kane left to an ovation from both home and visiting supporters. ‘It’s probably the best month I have had,’ he reflected.

Meanwhile Huddersfield are beginning to discover what they’re really up against. The stadium announcer put it best. ‘Premier League stuff from Kane, clinical,’ he said at half-time. ‘We’ll face a few moments like this.’