Kane forced off with injury after double earns point for Spurs
Harry Kane’s looming career dilemma can be summed up by the fact that even when he scores two brilliant goals, questions linger about his long and short-term future.
As injury time approached in the draw at Goodison Park, Kane’s frustration looked like it would be directed at securing his most unwanted goalscoring record, now topping the list of Premier League scorers who have not won the title.
By full time, he had a more immediate concern. Kane hastily requested a substitution, having rolled an ankle in a challenge with Everton’s Richarlison. England manager Gareth Southgate watched as Kane slowly exited. Given his previous ankle problems, a nation holds its breath, while Spurs fans wonder if their hopes of beating Manchester City in next Sunday’s Carabao Cup final departed with their captain.
“It is too early to say something,” his manager, Jose Mourinho, said. “We will get a diagnosis tomorrow and will inform you on Tuesday. For him to leave the pitch with a few minutes to go is obviously because he felt something. Let me be optimistic and believe that he has time to recover and believe it’s nothing serious. It’s obvious he’s a very important player for us.”
With or without Kane, Tottenham’s Champions League ambitions receded after a point which served little purpose for either team’s aspirations.
Kane struck his 163rd and 164th Premier League goals, which for everyone above him in the all-time list is a guarantee of being a titlewinner.
His time may yet come but this was further evidence of why it is unlikely to be at Tottenham, because his talent has vastly outgrown his team.
You will not see a game with a clearer example of one player on a different level to everyone else on the pitch.
Kane’s finishing was world class, but the assists came from Everton’s defenders, Michael Keane and Mason Holgate proving a more reliable supply chain than a Tottenham midfield bereft of imagination.
Mourinho can point to the creative substitutions which preceded Kane’s 68th-minute equaliser, as he sent on Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela to shift momentum after Gyfli Sigurdsson had threatened to further derail Spurs’ European hopes with a finish reminiscent of Kane after an hour.
But with Spurs reverting to three centre-backs, this match was so overrun by middle men scurrying at each others’ heels on the halfway line that Liverpool city council could have raised plenty of money by introducing a congestion charge in the Goodison Park centre circle.
You can see why Spurs fans’ disenchantment is growing, the more it appears the overriding instruction to Kane and Son Heung-min is “work some magic with that” as they receive another unimaginative pass while standing 50 yards from goal with two centre-halves at their backs.
That is when they are not chasing a long ball from one of their own defenders which could be accompanied by the cry to “chase it”. Sometimes that is enough because of the individual class of the front men, Son’s best moment coming when taking matters into his own hands early in the second half by gliding from the left past the flat-footed Keane, before being unable to beat Jordan Pickford from a tight angle.
For the rest of the evening, the strikers watched on hoping rebounds or errors would present opportunities.
And they did. Kane took advantage after 26 minutes when Keane failed to head clear Tanguy Ndombele’s cross. It was a brilliant finish by the England captain, who turned and slammed the ball past Pickford.
The equaliser came when Keane headed Lamela’s cross directly into Holgate, the ricochet dropping to Kane, who made the finish look more straightforward than it was.
Carlo Ancelotti had to curse lack of concentration in the penalty area.
“We have lost two points but the race is absolutely open,” the Everton manager insisted.
His side had similarly benefited when equalising from a 30thminute spot-kick.
Wing-back Sergio Reguilon dashed into James Rodriguez just as the Colombian was kicking into the turf rather than greeting Sigurdsson’s cross. Referee Michael Oliver awarded the penalty, and the combined clumsiness of Rodriguez’s attempt and Reguilon’s subsequent challenge did nothing to persuade video assistant referee Andre Marriner he was wrong. Sigurdsson beat Hugo Lloris.
Sigurdsson’s second was indebted to the instant impact of substitute Seamus Coleman, who, 30 seconds after his introduction, played a onetwo with Richarlison and crossed for the Icelander to finish in emphatic fashion.
Spurs created little, Everton’s defence gave away too much, allowing Kane to add to his tally.
He would swap dozens of those goals for one Premier League title. It looks increasingly like he will have to swap his jersey to get that.
Everton (4-4-2): Pickford 6; Godfrey 6, Holgate 5, Keane 5, Digne 6; Iwobi 3 (Coleman 61), Allan 6, Davies 5 (King 84), Sigurdsson 7; Rodriguez 6, Richarlison 6.
Subs Virginia (g), Olsen (g), Nkounkou, Broadhead, John, Price, Welch. Booked Davies.
Tottenham Hotspur (3-5-2): Lloris 7; Dier 6, Rodon 6, Alderweireld 6; Aurier 6, Hojbjerg 5, Sissoko 5, Ndombele 6 (Lamela 64), Reguilon 5 (Moura 64); Son 7, Kane 9 (Alli 90+3). Subs Hart (g), Sanchez, Winks, Bale, Lo Celso, Tanganga. Booked Hojbjerg.
Referee Michael Oliver (Northumberland).