Kane makes history by securing Spurs victory
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1 Kane (64)
WOLVES 0
Tottenham boss Antonio Conte says Harry Kane is more bothered about winning a trophy than personal achievements after the striker created Premier League history.
The England captain scored his 185th league goal – the most by a player for one club – to give his side a 1-0 win over Wolves.
Kane nodded home midway through the second half to climb above Sergio Aguero in the all-time scorers list and is just two behind Andrew Cole in third.
It was also his 250th goal for the club and Jimmy Greaves’ record of 266 is surely under threat this season.
But for all of his goals over the last decade Kane has yet to win any silverware as Spurs have repeatedly fallen short in recent seasons.
Conte is the man hired to fix that and says any of his squad would give up personal achievements for winning trophies.
He said: “I know he reached another big achievement, a personal big achievement, but we’re trying to work together, with the team and always with Harry to have not only personal achievements, like last season for example when Son was top scorer in the league, but to try to have a big achievement together for the team and the club.
“I think every single player is ready to exchange a personal achievement to reach a trophy. The path is difficult, the path is long, but we have to try to do this.
“But Harry is a player who has to make the difference, for his quality, for his ability.
“We’re talking about a really world-class striker who can be dangerous in all aspects on the pitch.”
Spurs needed Kane’s 64th minute intervention after they overcame a difficult
first half to win the points after earlier hit the crossbar and a post.
The win means they have taken seven points from games against Southampton, Chelsea and Wolves, having lost all three corresponding fixtures last season.
Conte says the progression in his team is obvious. He went on: “To get seven points showed that this team is improving in many aspects, but we want to continue to improve because for sure, this is not enough to be competitive, to fight for something important, but we have one year in front of us to continue to work, to implement our tactical knowledge.”
Wolves were the better team in the opening 45 minutes with new record signing Matheus Nunes missing their best opportunity in the first half. They might have fancied their chances as they enjoy playing at Tottenham’s new home, having won here in 2020 and last season, and they bossed the opening 45 minutes. They restricted the supply to Spurs’ dangerous front three and carried their own threat going forward.
They were only able to create half-chances, though, as Ruben Neves’ spectacular volley from a corner routine went straight to Hugo Lloris, while Daniel Podence bundled an effort wide.
Their best moment came five minutes before the break as Neves picked out Nunes who put his header just wide with Lloris rooted to the spot.
Spurs had to wait until the 45th minute for their only real moment of the first half as Kane forced Jose Sa into a stretching save from Ivan Perisic’s cross.
It was not hard for Spurs to improve after the break and they started strongly.
Kane almost got his goal in the 50th minute as he thundered a header against the crossbar from Dejan Kulusevski’s cross and then had another effort blocked.
The pressure was eventually rewarded in the 64th minute as Kane entered the record books.
Perisic flicked Son’s cross on and Kane nodded home from close range to overtake Aguero in the list of all-time scorers, with Andrew Cole next in his sights on 187.
Spurs looked most likely to add a second as Richarlison burst through on goal on a couple of occasions, but Kane’s goal proved the difference.
Wolves boss Bruno Lage has a sense of deja vu after another game they played well in past them by.
In a similar start to last season, Wolves have let missed chances cost them and Lage said: “It happens so many times that I don’t want to have that feeling. It’s hard when you work for the result. It’s hard the way we start the season, were a bit unlucky.
“It is a question of time the new players to adapt to the club, to the Premier League, to the new team-mates.
“Today we played very well. The first half was very good for us, we controlled the game with and without the ball. In the end we didn’t have any points, we go home with frustration of the result, but with confidence.”