Record-breaking Kane goal dents City’s title hopes
Harry Kane’s record-breaking 267th goal for Tottenham Hotspur gave them a much-deserved victory over reigning Premier League Champions Manchester City on Sunday evening.
It was the English striker’s 200th league goal and the result sees the London club move within a point of a Champions League berth.
Conte missing for Spurs
Tottenham came into this game with their manager Antonio Conte missing on the sidelines as the Italian continues his recovery from gall bladder surgery. Christian Stellini took charge, and right from the whistle, Spurs’ approach to the game was clear.
A strong and well-drilled defensive shape, a stoic midfield, and the trio of Kane, Dejan Kulusevski, and Hueng-min Son up front. City manager Pep Guardiola strangely opted without midfield talisman Kevin de Bruyne and started with two strikers in, Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland.
The home side took the lead in the 15th minute when Pierre Emile Hojberg nicked the ball off Rico Lewis and then poked it to Kane before falling over.
The striker made no mistake to side-foot his effort past Ederson in the City goal to reach the historic moment as he overtook Jimmy Greaves’ record for the most goals for the club.
The Tottenham defense hardly put a foot wrong during the first half, especially Christian Romero who was brilliant once again in keeping Haaland anonymous.
City did well to regain their composure and built momentum with their passing game but lacked the final ball to both the strikers and threaten Hugo Lloris’ goal. Riyad Mahrez struck the bar with a thumping effort in first-half stoppage time as Spurs rightly went into the tunnel with a 1-0 lead.
Guardiola did bring on De Bruyne in the second half but the Belgian hardly created any clear-cut openings as the Spurs defense held its own.
Romero, however, was sent off with 3 minutes left when he received a second yellow to bring down Jack Grealish as City looked to make their numerical advantage count.
Spurs resist late pressure
Despite the late pressure in which Alvarez struck his shot straight across Eric Dier and City’s claims for a last-ditch penalty waved off by the referee Andy Madley, Spurs held on for a massive win.
The result means City failed to take advantage of Arsenal’s slip-up at Everton on Saturday and still trail the league leaders by 5 points having played a game more.
Speaking of the recording-breaking moment, Kane later said, “It’s a day I’ll never forget. It’s hard to put into words; just a magical moment.
I was desperate to do it with a win as well, and in front of the home fans. There’s been so much talk about it in the last two weeks and I wanted to get it done as soon as possible. To do it here against one of the best teams in the world, it’s a special feeling.”
Photo credit: IMAGO Kieran Cleeves / Sportimage SPI-2207-0042