Harry Kane has done it again. Tottenham overcame an impressive Nottingham Forest performance as Harry Kane scored twice to tie Andy Cole for 3rd all-time on the Premier League scoring list.
This was a classic Antonio Conte-led team win. Giving the opponent the possession, capitalizing on every mistake, lighting quick on the counter, scoring against the run of play, and physically wearing out opponents until they eventually give up.
That’s how Antonio Conte wins games, and that’s how Tottenham won today. Like I said after Tottenham’s draw against Chelsea, Conte has transformed this Spurs team into his image and has made them resilient.
Under Pochettino or Mourinho, they probably lose this game as Nottingham Forest, despite nearly every one of their first team players being unfamiliar with one another, played well enough to win. They had far more possession than Spurs (56%-44%), one less shot (17), 124 more passes (568), and were very accurate when they had the ball as they completed 84% of their passes.
Yet, they lacked one important element that all title and Top-4 challenging sides have: being clinical.
Out of their 17 shots, Forest only managed to get one shot on Hugo Lloris’ net, which was a 30-yard hopeful strike that was never going to go in. Tottenham, on the other hand, had seven shots on target and scored two goals with them (and it should have been three).
As I mentioned earlier, Harry Kane led Tottenham with his two goals, one on the 5′ and the other in the 80′. The 5′ strike was a classic Conte-team counterattack as Dejan Kulusevski, who’s been far better than I originally though he would be in the Premier League, passed the ball into Harry Kane’s stride, allowing him to push the ball forward and place a grounded shot that beat Dean Henderson.
As to be expected, the move came off a Forrest mistake as midfielder Lewis O’Brien miscontrolled a pass/clearance (it was kind of a mixture of both) that Kulusevski pounced on. Judging by Conte’s enthusiastic reaction on the sideline, there’s really no better way for one of his teams to score a goal than from an opponent’s mistake.
Anyway, Forest really dominated possession but could do absolutely nothing with it. Aside from that 30-yard strike I mentioned, Lloris could have sat down and started planning what to eat for dinner. He really had nothing to do. Reversely, whenever Forest lost the ball, Spurs were all over them as the East Midlands side simply couldn’t handle the pressure or skills of Tottenham’s Kane, Son, and Kulusevski.
And that pressure nearly resulted in a goal on 50′ (ish) minute as new signing Steve Cook handballed the ball away from Harry Kane as the Spurs forward was about to score Tottenham’s second goal of the game. Because the infraction occurred in the penalty box, Spurs were awarded a penalty shot.
Luckily for Cook, Dean Henderson saved his second penalty of the season as he correctly dove to his right, stopping Harry Kane from adding to his tally.
Even though things didn’t work out for Henderson at Manchester United these last few seasons, he really has been impressive for Forrest in the few games he’s played for them. If I was him, I’d make a move to Forrest permeant as there is no way he’s replacing David de Gea as the starter for United anytime soon.
Nonetheless, Harry Kane eventually scored his 187th Premier League goal as he headed home a tremendous, outside-of-the-boot Richarlison cross on the 80′ mark, sealing the game for Spurs. With that goal Harry Kane has now tied Manchester United legend Any Cole for 3rd all-time in Premier League scoring. He should be able to catch up (or get close enough) to another United legend, Wayne Rooney, and his 208-goal mark this season for 2nd place.
I don’t know if he’ll be able to surpass the legendary Alan Shearer’s 260 goal tally by the time his contract runs out, but he’ll definitely cement his legacy as the 2nd greatest Premier League goal scorer in the upcoming seasons.
To be honest, Harry Kane is going to be faced with a massive decision come the end of his contract (which is in two seasons): resign with Tottenham and break the Premier League or move on to a team that is guaranteed to win a title outside of England.
We’ll have to see what Kane’s decision ends up being, but that won’t be for a while. Spurs fans can rest easy as Harry Kane is not going anywhere, while Spurs and Antonio Conte are only going one way: up the Premier League standings. Could Spurs actually be title challengers this season?
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