The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Harry Kane’s relentless goalscoring form continued in Cyprus last night as his hat-trick helped Tottenham demolish Apoel Nicosia 3-0 in a Champions League clash.
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Harry Kane delivered a Champions League masterclass by hitting a hattrick and leading Tottenham to a 3-0 demolition of Apoel Nicosia.
There are few superlatives left to describe Kane’s relentless goalscoring form but the striker broke new ground in Cyprus with his first treble in Europe’s premier competition.
A cool first-half finish set Spurs on their way before two in five minutes after the interval rounded off another stellar night for Kane, who trundled off to a standing ovation with 15 minutes left.
His ninth club hat-trick also puts Tottenham in a commanding position to qualify from Group H after Borussia Dortmund’s loss at home to Real Madrid leaves the German side six points adrift of the two pacesetters.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men head to the Santiago Bernabeu next month and they will hope to have a stronger representation too, given they arrived here with seven key players missing.
With Kane in this sort of mood, they will believe anything is possible, the 23-year-old’s record in 2017 now showing 34 goals in 30 Spurs appearances.
He is only the seventh English player to score a Champions League hat-trick after Andy Cole, Mike Newell, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Alan Shearer and Danny Welbeck.
There were fears Tottenham might struggle with Christian Eriksen and Mousa Dembele joining Erik Lamela, Danny Rose, Victor Wanyama on the sidelines, along with the suspended Jan Vertonghen and Dele Alli, but they coped admirably.
Kane told ESPN: “It’s a very proud night for myself and obviously the team as well.
“The first one was a close one, I’m not sure if it was offside or not but Toby’s (Alderweireld) played a great ball in, I’ve touched it inside and I was always going to take it on with my left foot.
“The two in the second half, Moussa (Sissoko)’s cut back a great ball and in those kind of positions it’s all about the touch and the touch was kind of perfect and that set me up and I stroked it home.
“The last one was an unbelievable delivery from Tripps (Kieran Trippier) and I made the run late into the box and I was happy to see it go in.”