Harry’s head over heels in love with Tottenham
Kane hits back with a goal in Spurs win
Somewhere during the last couple of months harry Kane went from being the golden boy of english football to the fall guy and a punchline for an easy joke.
The official FA Cup Twitter account and chairman of the PFA Ben Purkiss were both unable to resist the opportunity to poke fun his way.
And, it is true, by his own very high standards, the goals dried up for Kane on either side of an ankle injury.
he came into this game against watford having scored only twice in eight games and one was the goal he barely touched and claimed on appeal from Christian eriksen, to much amusement.
There were times last night, too, when he was not at his best, not quite as assured as he often is but he simply refuses to hide from the responsibility of putting himself in a position to score. That is his great strength and his goal, Tottenham’s second, was the perfect example.
As Son heung-min drove in a low cross from the right, Kane slammed on the brakes to address the ball and slipped on his backside.
It looked comical but as the ball rolled out to the opposite flank, he climbed to his feet and was all set to apply a simple finish when Kieran Trippier whipped it back into the goalmouth. In the Premier League alone, it was his 27th of the season. Still four behind Liverpool’s mo Salah but not a bad haul and brilliantly consistent from one season to the next. ‘I feel good, I feel sharp,’ said Kane. ‘I would have liked to play better over the last few games but the whole team would. ‘hopefully I can finish strong like last year and then we’re going into a big summer. ‘I try to improve every year. Last year I got 29 so I would like to try to beat that. In my mind, I’m just trying to get to 30.’
more importantly, Kane’s goal settled the crowd at wembley and eased fears that mauricio Pochettino’s team might be about to blow a top-four finish in another fit of Tottenham jitters.
Dele Alli (left) had struck in the first half with the help of a goalkeeping howler when orestis Karnezis spilled a cross from Trippier.
Karnezis dropped the ball at the feet of Christian eriksen, who set up Alli to convert from near the penalty spot.
‘we conceded cheap goals,’ said watford boss Javi Gracia. ‘we created chances and we didn’t score them.’
his team have not scored away from Vicarage road for four months, but they summoned a good response and created an open contest, albeit one littered with errors.
hugo Lloris made vital saves at 1-0 to deny Andre Gray, Abdoulaye Doucoure and richarlison and sprinted out to win a sliding tackle with Doucoure and growl at his defenders. he kept his side ahead when desperation began to creep in.
Spurs regrouped during the interval and Kane struck early in the second half.
high up in the wembley seats, Gareth Southgate will have been reassured to see two important england attackers among the goals.
‘I have no doubt he will arrive in good condition for the world Cup,’ said Pochettino. ‘It has not been a great period for him in the last few weeks. he is human like anyone and has been a little bit affected.
‘But he is a strong guy, physically and mentally. he needs to improve but with 105 goals in 150 games in the Premier League, what more can we say? he is a fantastic striker.’
There might have been more: Vertonghen hit a post and Kane fluffed the rebound, he had a goal ruled out when he was narrowly