Kane finally ends Cardiff curse as Spurs keep title dream alive
HARRY Kane ended his Cardiff hoodoo as Tottenham stayed in the Premier League title picture with a 3-0 win in the Welsh capital.
Kane had previously scored at least once against 27 of the 28 Premier League opponents he had faced, with Cardiff the solitary team he had failed to net against in three previous encounters.
But Kane needed only two-and-a-half minutes to put that record straight on New Year’s Day, and further goals from Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min provided a swift panacea to the pain of losing 3-1 at home to Wolves on Saturday.
And Eriksen emphasised the importance of victory to the team.
He told Sky Sports: “We all know how it felt losing at home and we had to bounce back.
“We were lucky with the first goal and afterwards we had the ball for the rest of the game.”
The victory eased Spurs back above Manchester City into second place and six points adrift of leaders Liverpool.
Tottenham can now relax and watch the showdown between City and Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium tomorrow, with Mauricio Pochettino’s side believing they can still force their way into title contention in 2019.
Cardiff entered the contest in confident mood after four points from festive fixtures at Crystal Palace and Leicester had moved them three clear of the relegation zone.
But Spurs were quickly ahead from a move that Kane started and finished for his 18th goal of the season.
Kane drove through the midfield to find Kieran Trippier, and the England captain was in the right place when Cardiff made a hash of the cross and Sean Morrison diverted the ball against his knee for it to trickle past goalkeeper Neil Etheridge.
Cardiff had switched Callum Paterson from his usual striking role to the right flank in an attempt to exploit Danny Rose aerially on crosses from the other side.
The tactic almost worked when Paterson nearly got on the end of Josh Murphy’s deep ball, but he was foiled by a brave Rose header.
Spurs doubled their lead after 12 minutes when Kane, dropping deep and pulling Sol Bamba out of position to devastating effect, sparked a move featuring Moussa Sissoko and Son.
Harry Arter failed to cut out Son’s cross and Eriksen, shifting the ball from his left to right foot in the blink of an eye, cut the ball back into the bottom corner.