Kane spot on at Wembley
HARRY Kane’s VAR-assisted penalty gave Tottenham a slim advantage in their Carabao Cup semi-final against Chelsea following a 1-0 first-leg win at Wembley.
Kane scored from the spot in the 26th minute after being scythed down by Kepa Arrizabalaga, with the video assistant referee ruling the England striker had stayed onside in the build-up.
Speaking about the decision to award Spurs a penalty, striker Kane said: “Obviously I made the run, just played to the whistle. I nicked it round the keeper and I think it’s a clear penalty – it’s just whether it’s offside or not.
“VAR is there for a reason and I’m sure they got it right.
“I knew it was tight. I didn’t know if one of the full-backs was playing me on or not. I’ll have to watch it back and see.
“We’re a little bit used to it [VAR] after the World Cup in the summer. It’s part of the game - it’s going to be a big part of football going forward.
“From our point of view, it doesn’t change much.”
Kane had no problems converting from 12 yards to move ahead of Cliff Jones on the club’s all-time list of scorers. He is fourth on the list with 160 goals after netting for the sixth successive game.
It gave Spurs a win they perhaps did not deserve as Chelsea twice hit the woodwork, but there will be no complaints from the hosts as they registered a third successive victory over their London rivals for the first time since 1963.
Maurizio Sarri, though, will be confident his side will be able to turn the deficit around in the second leg at Stamford Bridge in a fortnight, having performed far better than in their 3-1 defeat at the national stadium six weeks ago. Chelsea’s defence were run ragged by Son Heung-min in that league fixture and they were given a reminder of the threat posed by the South Korean in the early exchanges.
He caused panic down the right and the ball ended up with Kieran Trippier, whose cross was met by Kane’s ambitious overhead kick that went straight at Arrizabalaga.
The keeper’s next involvement led to Tottenham’s winner.
Kane got to the ball first and was clattered into by Arrizabalaga.
Referee Michael Oliver consulted VAR, who ruled that Kane was just onside and that he had been fouled – with the England skipper making no mistake from the spot.
Chelsea were not happy about the decision, but tried their best to get back into the game and only the woodwork stopped them equalising.
First N’Golo Kante hit a post as he turned Marcos Alonso’s cross goalwards at the near post and then Callum Hudson-Odoi’s deflected cross almost caught Paulo Gazzaniga out, but the Spurs goalkeeper backpedalled and tipped the ball on to the crossbar.
Chelsea’s best chance came just before the hour and they will rue it falling to Christensen as the defender, unmarked at the back post from a corner, stabbed wide with the goal at his mercy.
It was a frantic ending, but Spurs held on to take a narrow lead to Stamford Bridge on January 24.