Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Manchester City
All hail Harry Houdini!
To become the all-time leading scorer at the great English football institution that is Tottenham Hotspur FC is a truly fabulous achievement.
After scoring the only goal of this Premier League encounter to defeat the champions – Manchester City have never won or even scored since Spurs moved into their new stadium in 2019 – the England and Spurs captain took the microphone and thanked everyone, family, friends, fans, staff and players.
It was a typical gesture from the man who has now netted 267 goals for his boyhood club.
This one, at a raucous Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, was like so many before him, a composed finish from 10 yards out after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg did well to find him.
The 15th minute goal was also Kane’s 200th on the Premier League stage – only Alan Shearer (260) and Wayne Rooney (208) have more.
All this on the day when Spurs boss Antonio Conte was recovering at home after surgery to remove his gallbladder.
Who needs a manager when you have Harry?!
Highlights of the game
As well as Conte, there were other absentees from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Matt Doherty has since moved to Atlético Madrid.
The hosts were unchanged from the team that earned a 1-0 success at Fulham which meant new signing Pedro Porro was named on the bench against his former club (Porro failed to make the grade at City as a youngster before being sold to Sporting Lisbon for £7 million in 2020.)
Likewise, for City, life began without João Cancelo who seemingly lost the faith of Pep Guardiola who made four changes to the team that beat Wolves 3-0 a fortnight ago.
Kevin de Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan surprisingly dropped to the bench along with Aymeric Laporte.
John Stones was missing with a hamstring injury and in came Kyle Walker, Nathan Ake, Julian Alvarez and Bernardo Silva.
City were again without Phil Foden.
Just over a fortnight after City overturned a two goal deficit to show the mark of the champions, we expected more Premier League highlights.
And with leaders Arsenal being stunned by Everton on Saturday lunchtime – meaning City could close the gap at the summit two points – and the race for the top four up for grabs for Champions League-chasing Spurs, victory was imperative for both sides in North London.
When the decisive moment arrived, it was against the run of play after City had bossed the opening stages.
They continued to be well on top without creating too much danger, although they were unfortunate when Riyad Mahrez struck a half-volley against the crossbar on the stroke of half-time.
At this point, the SBOTOP Premier League betting odds favoured the home team which, given City’s comeback a few weeks ago, was quite something.
But they proved accurate.
The introduction of Kevin de Bruyne breathed life into City but Erling Haaland received little or no service and the lack of creativity on this particular afternoon only added to my view that the loss of Cancelo has weakened Guardiola’s men.
A second yellow card for Cristian Romero three minutes from time barely mattered as Spurs’ desire and a curiously off-colour City’s own failings added to their frustrations.
Spurs had been desperate for something to spark their season, a first victory over a member of the so-called big six and this was it.
The sight of Kane with his colleagues and supporters at full-time – he even received a call from Conte – simply showed that this day belonged to one man.
A player Spurs fans describe as ‘one of our own’ is now out on his own.
Key statistics
The late, great Jimmy Greaves held the record for Spurs but, bizarrely, the club does not include two goals netted by Greaves against Ipswich in the 1962 Charity Shield.
Kane has now scored five times in 14 top-flight matches versus City.
He has 17 league goals this season and 19 in total, 11 more than the next highest scorer for the club, Son Heung-min.
City have lost all five of their league and cup games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium without scoring.
City have suffered 28 Premier League defeats against Spurs, their highest figure against a particular opponent.
What’s next?
Spurs are at Leicester City next Saturday (February 11) before the first leg of their last 16 Champions League tie at AC Milan three days later.
City, meanwhile, are home to Aston Villa next Sunday before the top of the table clash at Arsenal the following midweek (February 15).
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