Match Report: Harry Kane 1 and a record, Manchester City, nothing.
Well, we did the North London hijackers a favour (not intentionally, but a favour, nonetheless.. bastards!). No doubt they will get their comeuppance very soon. They did lose over the weekend to bottom strugglers Everton… which is some good news (including our own)… oh, and talking about good news… how about Wolves beating the Scousers 3-0. As for Yankee-Chelski and Newcastle, they both drew. The only sad news was that United beat Palace 2-1 after attempted neck strangulation against a Palace player (the culprit got his comeuppance).
Before I go on, I just want to say that some Spurs supporters seem to hate the Gooners more than they love Tottenham. I’ve heard some of our fans saying, “I hope City beat us and gets closer to stopping Arsenal”. No matter how much we hate the Gooners, our priority is our club. If we were at the top of the league and the Gooners were playing City (and challenging us), I would want the Hijackers to stop City in their tracks. I’d be cheering them on! I am a Tottenham supporter; my club comes first.
I arrived with Mel half an hour before the doors opened… 1.30 pm. I noticed that opposite the Spurs shop, there were “ENIC OUT” Banners and protesters, so I went over and chatted with them. Afterwards, somebody told me that twenty-two minutes into the game, there would be a mass walkout in protest of Enic and Levy… as the clock struck 22 minutes, I witnessed no walkout… either I was misinformed, or that enthusiasm fizzled out. Seven minutes before that time, Kane scored… maybe that was why!
To the game…
A ten-man team (us) stopped favourites (City) in their tracks, and in the process, Kane got his wonder goal and made history beating Jimmy Greaves’s record. Yes, the magic goalscoring man became Tottenham Hotspur’s all-time leading goal scorer. He surpassed Jimmy Greaves with a 267th goal for Spurs in the first half, and we also survived a late Cristian Romero red card to prolong City’s misery… a City curse at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Yes, they’ve never beaten us at our spanking new Stadium (nearly four years old… so probably not that spanking new…); ho, we laughed!!!.
Kane reached the landmark with a composed finish from 10 yards out after Hojbjerg did remarkably well to find him inside the box.
The liveliness that goal created amongst our fans…
I and the other Spurs fans leapt from our seats to applaud Kane, the wonder kid. A few seconds after the goal went in, a message flashed up on the scoreboard inside the ground which read ‘Congratulations Harry Kane’. The 15th-minute finish was also Kane’s 200th on the Premier League stage – only Alan Shearer (260 goals) and Wayne Rooney (208) have scored more… but not for long; he is coming after monsieur’s, Shearer and Rooney and will give them a kicking in their balls.
That goal came against the run of play, and with Antonio Conte recovering at home after surgery to remove his testicles… oh, sorry… his gallbladder… he probably watched the game from the comfort of his Italian home. But he did phone Kane afterwards… Lovely!
We finished with 10 men after defender Cristian Romero was sent off in the 87th minute for two bookable offences, but we dug deep to frustrate City. They missed the chance to cut Willywonkers sweetie factory soldiers’ five-point lead at the top of the table following the tosser’s defeat at Everton on Saturday. Who gives a shit! We won, and that is what it is all about.
Riyad Mahrez went closest to equalising with an attempt which cannoned off the underside of the bar, but City are without a point (and a goal) in five visits to our Stadium. They won the league last season, but we did the double over them.
While City remain five points behind Willywonkers men, having played one game more, our victory moves us one point behind fourth-placed Newcastle.
Thoughts…
Individual errors by City gifted us two goals at the Etihad Stadium last month, and Pep Guardiola’s side clearly had not learned their lesson this time around, either, as Kane was gifted his record-breaking goal. Within 15 minutes, Rodri’s ball to Rico Lewis just outside the Man City penalty box was picked off by Hojbjerg, who advanced into the box before laying the ball off to Kane. Then Kane coolly picked out the bottom corner and brought up goal number 267 for the Tottenham record while also racking up his 200th in the Premier League.
Joining Wayne Rooney (208) and Alan Shearer (260) in that exclusive club, Kane also achieved a double century in the quickest time, taking 304 games after Shearer and Rooney hit the landmark in 306 and 462 matches, respectively.
Often ignoring the array of runs made by Erling Braut Haaland, City only had one opportunity to restore parity before the break, as Riyad Mahrez rattled the underside of the bar after latching onto Jack Grealish’s cross in stoppage time.
When panic set in, the City manager brought on Kevin De Bruyne in the 58th minute – taking the place of Mahrez as we contained City with relative ease. De Bruyne had chances in the 64th minute, picking out Julian Alvarez inside the box with a neat free kick, but Eric Dier made a smart block before De Bruyne fired wide following the resulting corner.
Penalty appeals by the City players were waved away in the process, and Kane was only inches away from making it 268 goals a couple of minutes later following a quick counter-attack. Still, Ivan Perisic’s cross was just beyond the striker.
We reverted to our counter-attacking prowess while the champions futilely huffed and puffed.
Our backline defended admirably, but our task would become all the more difficult in the 87th minute, as Romero tripped Grealish and immediately received a second yellow card from the referee.
With five minutes of added time with 10 men, we expertly secured a fifth straight win over Man City at our Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, leading to cheers as the entire Spurs fans looked on.
We remain in fifth place but are now just one point behind Newcastle United, while Man City still have a five-point gap to make up to the leaders of the Premier League, who have a game in hand.
Player ratings…
Lloris – 7/10 – He commanded his area well and wasn’t a liability.
Romero – 8/10 – Stupendous before his sending off. Totally shut down Haaland.
Dier – 9/10 – Excellent play.
Davies – 7/10 – Calm regardless who he was up against.
Royal – 9/10 – He got the better of his clashes with Grealish. He is often booed by the home fans, but he has been on form the last couple of games. Conte has kept faith in him while others challenge to replace him. He is getting better as time goes by.
Hojbjerg – 7/10 – he set up Kane’s opener and worked hard.
Bentancur – 7/10 – consistently fought his way out of trouble, even though his final pass was missing.
Perisic – 7/10 – was largely solid, the opposite of his performance in the reverse fixture.
Kulusevski – 6/10 – It wasn’t his best performance. He was constantly slowed down by Ake and Lewis, nevertheless, he still gave City defence headaches.
Son – 6/10 – Sharp when carrying the ball up the pitch but remained uncertain when getting shots away.
Kane – 10/10 – Record-breaker Kane, who broke Greaves’s record, often dropped deep and showed off his full range. Because of that, I gave him a 10 out of 10.
Let us hope we can match what they achieved against City with another win over Leicester Titty. It is no good consistently showing everybody what we can do against City year after year but letting ourselves down when we meet the minnows. OK… and the likes of Chelski, United and Willywonkers sweeties.
After the game, we all stayed behind to listen to a pitch interview with Kane. Afterwards, to the bar/ lounge (to digest) and then home. I finally got to Janette’s at 10 pm.
Next up: Leicester Titty (away), followed by AC Milan abroad. I shall be at both games, waving the team to victory.
Adios, Amigos, see you soon…
COYS!
Glenn
My name is Glenn Renshaw.
I am currently a Premium Season Ticket holder (West Stand) in the new stadium. Before that – at White Hart Lane – a season ticket holder in various parts of the ground (mainly in the North stand).
Before becoming a season ticket holder, I stood on the shelf and various other parts of the ground since the 1950s. In 1987 I became one of the first to hold a Spurs Membership card. I was also a life long member of the Spurs supporters club (now defunct).
I go to all home, away and abroad matches.
I was born in 1955, Edgware, London (it was in the late 50s – as a baby – that my dad took me to Spurs to initiate me). I currently live in Berkshire.
I also collect all Spurs books (and have everyone printed), Spurs handbooks (from 1920s onwards, Spurs programmes (since the 40s).
Previously, I wrote for Spurs Fanzines: The Spur, Spur of the Moment, My Eyes have seen the Glory and various other Spurs fanzines’. I also wrote for the SpursWeb app & its website.
I currently write and work for spursnetwork.com and its website. I write its Reviews & Match reports and a lot more.
My other interests are; reading, history, social history, Politics, going to the gym, wine, going out for a meal, music (all sorts), writing, theatre, concerts, holidays, socialising etc.
I have been writing blogs/ articles since 1989
If you wish to read more of my blog, please click “here”