Class act Kane is two hot to handle as Spurs hit back to stun Rangers
Striker’s spectacular double shows why he is so valuable to Tottenham
BAYERN MUNICH head coach Julian Nagelsmann spoke pre-match about the thorny problem of Harry Kane being so prohibitively expensive even though he is readymade to score goals for fun in the Bundesliga.
Unfortunately for Rangers, the England captain chose yesterday’s friendly at Ibrox for the Walter Tull Memorial Cup to hammer home exactly what Nagelsmann was getting at.
Bayern were understood to be preparing a tilt at landing Kane in 2023. Now, reports in Germany are stating they might try to get him in as a replacement for Barcelonabound Robert Lewandowski right now.
It is easy to see why. Even in a preseason bounce game played at something short of full power, Kane’s eye of the tiger was there for all to see.
Rangers keeper Allan McGregor, continuing to belie his 40 years, denied him in the first half while pulling off a rash of outstanding saves from a host of visiting stars.
However, there was no stopping Kane when he found his range twice in a five-minute interval in the second period — and delivered the kind of finishes that screamed his top-level credentials from the rooftops to cancel out Antonio Colak’s 24th-minute opener.
Kane and his team-mates were presented with the Tull trophy — named in honour of the first black professional outfield player in UK football, who signed for Rangers in 1917 after previously playing for Spurs, only to die at the second Battle of the Somme aged 29 before wearing the light blue — at time-up by former Ibrox and Lilywhites favourite Jermain Defoe.
You’d have to think, though, that any chance of collecting more meaningful silverware later in the season would hinge on keeping Kane in place. No matter how many replacements an exorbitant fee might be able to finance.
Spurs, fresh from a South Korean tour and keeping their big summer signings on the bench at the start, were bright from the off, with Kane leading the line and the outstanding Dejan Kulusevski forcing the first of many sharp saves from McGregor after just five minutes.
However, Rangers settled nicely into a lively, competitive encounter and, after James Tavernier had bent a free-kick just wide from distance, Colak got himself on the scoresheet with a real goalhanger’s finish.
Rabbi Matondo and Ryan Kent had been enterprising on both flanks and it was the Welsh internationalist who provided the spark for the opener.
He raced up the right at speed, asking questions of the backtracking Ryan Sessegnon, before delivering a low ball into the area. Tavernier was there to produce the deftest of flick-ons with what looked like the back of his heel and Colak moved into space to pounce from close-in with a low finish.
Spurs, mind you, should have equalised just a matter of seconds later from a retaliatory incursion up the field.
Son Heung-Min took the ball into space on the left and rolled a perfectly-weighted pass into the path of the unmarked Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg directly in front of goal.
The Dane showed a real lack of composure, though, and sclaffed his effort wide.
His theatrical protests over McGregor supposedly touching the ball — and a corner not being given — did little to hide his own failings in the heat of the moment.
Kulusevski forced McGregor into action again moments later when releasing a curling effort that had to be tipped acrobatically over the bar and the Rangers keeper stepped forth once more just after the halfhour when parrying a strong drive from Kane, who had outpaced John Souttar in the penalty area.
McGregor was back in the thick of things early in the second half when saving from Sessegnon from close range, but, even in such inspired form, there was no way the veteran was ever going to stop Kane’s 51st-minute leveller.
Rangers lost possession in attack and just couldn’t get back into shape. Spurs shifted the ball forward quickly, Kane picked it up on the left side of the area and gave himself just enough of a sight of goal by moving the ball out of the reach of Connor Goldson.
The rest was poetry. With very little backlift and no lack of whip, his right-footed effort flew into the far corner of McGregor’s goal in lethal, spectacular fashion.
The England captain’s second goal five minutes later was similarly clinical. Spurs had turned over possession again before breaking forward and a cushioned pass from Son gave Kane the sight of goal he thrives on.
A clever touch was followed by a powerful shot from the right-hand side of the area that thundered between McGregor and the near post.
Rangers, tested to the full in trying to negate the visitors’ speed and technique with summer signings Richarlison, Ivan Perisic, Djed Spence and Yves Bissouma all given second-half cameos, certainly spent the second half struggling to emerge from Kane’s shadow.
Having said that, substitute James Sands ought to have made it 2-2 with ten minutes to go when seeing a close-range header held by substitute keeper Fraser Forster, given dog’s abuse from the Ibrox fans when coming on for Hugo Lloris with 19 minutes to play on account of his past history with Celtic.
For all that, those sublime finishes from Kane were the main things to take away from the occasion.
That’s what proper, big money gets you. And heaven knows how much of that Bayern would have to pay to even have a chance of luring him away from London on this form.