Sports

Kane’s double boosts Spurs ahead of Barcelona clash

Published

6 years ago

September 29, 2018

Harry Kane rediscovered his scoring touch just in time to face Barcelona with two goals for Tottenham in a routine 2 – 0 Premier League victory at bottom club Huddersfield.
The England centre -forward has struggled for goals since returning from the World Cup , scoring just once , from a penalty , in his previous six appearances for club and country .

However , he headed in Kieran Trippier ’ s cross in the 25 th minute to set Mauricio Pochettino ’ s side on their way , and then added a penalty nine minutes later , when Florent Hadergjonaj was punished for tugging Danny Rose ’ s shirt .

The victory , Tottenham ’ s third in eight days if the midweek defeat of Watford on penalties in the League Cup is included , suggests they are getting back to form as they prepare to host Barcelona in the Champions League at Wembley on Wednesday .
It will have done much to lift club spirits too , given the hamstring injury suffered during the week by midfielder Dele Alli, who is expected to be out for around four weeks , although Spurs have yet to put a timescale on his return.

Christian Eriksen was absent too , with the abdominal injury he sustained during last Saturday ’ s 2 -1 win at Brighton, although he is hopeful of facing Barcelona .

In any case , Kane ’ s form , allied to an impressive attacking performance from Lucas Moura, ensured that the absentees were not missed too much .

Huddersfield were warned of the danger in the opening 10 minutes , when Christopher Schindler misjudged the bounce of a Davinson Sanchez clearance , allowing Kane to race clear , but goalkeeper Jonas Lossl held his nerve and blocked with his feet .

The home side , who could have been behind even earlier than that had Rose not headed just wide from a Trippier cross , did not heed the lesson and were soon behind .

Terence Kongolo managed to hold up Lucas ’ s run , injuring himself in the process , but the Brazilian got to his feet and fed Trippier to cross for Kane to head in .

– Kane penalty –

Kongolo was carried off on a stretcher , and his replacement , Hadergjonaj , was soon experiencing his own misfortune , as he was punished for a shirt tug on Rose inside the area . Kane sent Lossl the wrong way with the resulting penalty.

Huddersfield are struggling for goals , having scored just once at home in the league since February 11 , but were out of luck at key times .

Chris Loewe ’ s sweet , swerving 25 -yard shot, which came between Kane ’ s two first – half goals , was pushed aside by the alert Paulo Gazzaniga in the Tottenham goal .

Right on half -time , Laurent Depoitre met Erik Durm ’ s cross on the run with a volley that bounced out off the underside of the bar .

The second half rather petered out, with Lucas spurning two opportunities to score the goal his performance merited , first being denied by Lossl after wriggling into space , and then firing wide having won possession in midfield and charged for goal .

Huddersfield continued to labour without reward , with Gazzaniga gathering a low shot from Alex Pritchard and then watching Loewe bend a free – kick just wide, before making a fine late save at his near post to turn aside substitute Isaac Mbenz ’ s shot .

( AFP )