No place like home as Kane ends his drought
Striker hits first August goal in stroll for Spurs
AFTER a contentious week dominated by headlines about stadium delays, all Spurs needed were some home comforts. The increasingly cosy surrounds of Wembley duly provided them — even Harry Kane scored.
In purely football terms, it could be a blessing if Mauricio Pochettino’s side spend the bulk of this season at their adopted home as opposed to the new White Hart Lane.
They are on an upward trajectory beneath the arch and have lost only once here in the Premier League since their opening game a year ago, and even that defeat was to champions Manchester City.
Supporters are, understandably, angry at a lack of communication from the club with regard to their stadium move, but such frustration was forgotten at full-time after the players had done the talking on the pitch.
They did that last weekend at Newcastle, too, when the pre-match negativity centred on the club’s failure to sign a single player during the summer transfer window. Perhaps another media storm can serve as motivation ahead of next Monday’s trip to Manchester United, for Eric Dier admitted this week that he and his team-mates would like to ‘shut up’ those making noise on the outside.
They did that here thanks to goals from Lucas Moura and England pair Kieran Trippier and Kane, who netted for the first time in August after 14 matches without a goal.
Trippier’s effort was the pick of them, somehow producing an upgrade on his free-kick against Croatia in the World Cup semi-final by finding the net from 25 yards with another dead-ball strike of apparent ease.
The right back was the best player on the park having been rested on the opening day and that — a break — is what Kane needs.
At Newcastle he played as if he was actually wearing his World Cup Golden Boot, so heavy-footed and off radar was the England captain.
That blank had taken his August drought to 998 minutes and, inevitably, after two minutes here a flurry of social-media posts were celebrating the passing of 1,000. That is the world Kane lives in — we build ’em up and we shoot ’em down — and he usually responds by sticking the ball in the back of the net.
He was not without chances in the first half either. On four minutes Christian Eriksen dropped a pass over the top and Kane gave chase, only to lose his bearings as the ball landed on his back.
He did chip in moments later but the whistle had long since gone for a foul by Moura on the goalkeeper. It was, in fairness, a lovely finish.
But once play resumed for real there was nothing aesthetically pleasing about Kane’s game. Eriksen again sought to set him clear on 14 minutes but Kane, under minimal pressure from Timothy FosuMensah, tumbled to the ground. His claims for a penalty were so fanciful you would not have blamed Anthony Taylor had he booked him for sheer temerity.
Eriksen refused to give up on his colleague and fired another ball into his feet inside the penalty area. Kane’s touch, however, eluded him once more.
Spurs’ pressure finally told two minutes before the interval and the opener came through an unlikely source. No, not Kane.
Moura, a £25million signing from PSG in January, had scored only once for Spurs, and even that was in an FA Cup-tie at League One Rochdale.
So when the Brazilian ran on to a loose ball inside the area, those behind the goal could have been forgiven had they ducked for cover. But Moura, with one wild swing of his left boot, soon had those same supporters on their feet, curling in via the inside of the post.
It was that same upright that Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic cracked early in the second half as the visitors took control.
Their equaliser, then, was very much in keeping with the direction of play and it came when Mitrovic stooped inside the six-year area to head home from Ryan Sessegnon’s somewhat fortunate pull-back — his intention had surely been to shoot given he was unmarked at the far post.
It should have been two for Fulham on 67 minutes when Mitrovic strode purposefully on to a rolling ball but his finish lacked the conviction of his approach and the Serb spooned wide. His countryman and manager, Slavisa Jokanovic, responded by slamming his water bottle into the Wembley turf. If only Mitrovic had connected with such force then his side would have been in front and heading for their first points of the season.
And they paid the price for that miss when Trippier swept effortlessly over the wall on 74 minutes.
Kane had hit the bar from close range moments earlier but still he came back for more and he won the biggest roar of the afternoon when checking inside his marker and locating the bottom corner on 77 minutes. Ah, home, sweet, temporary home.
TOTTENHAM (3-5-2): Lloris 7; Alderweireld 6.5, Sanchez 6 (Dembele 63min, 6), Vertonghen 7; Trippier 7.5, Eriksen 7, Dier 6 (Lamela 73, 6.5), Alli 6.5, Davies 6; Moura 6.5, Kane 6 (Winks 89). Subs (not used): Rose, Vorm, Sissoko, Aurier. FULHAM (4-5-1): Fabri 6; Fosu-Mensah 6 (Schurrle 88), Chambers 5, Le Marchand 6, Bryan 6 (Christie 85); Sessegnon 6.5, Seri 6.5, Zambo 6, Cairney 6 (Johansen 74, 5), Kamara 5.5; Mitrovic 6.5. Subs (not used): McDonald, Kebano, Vietto, Sergio Rico. Referee: A Taylor 7.