Tottenham’s Harry Kane bags hat-trick in thriller against Leicester
Spurs 4 - 3 Leicester
Harry Kane 6
Harry Kane 13
Harry Kane 64 Pen
Jeff Schlupp 85 o.g.
Jamie Vardy 38
Wes Morgan 50
David Nugent 90
Tottenham's Harry Kane scores their second goal against Leicester in the Premier League
Hurricane Harry Kane blew in from the south side of White Hart Lane after six minutes and, by the time that this force of nature had departed, he had his first Premier League hat-trick and Tottenham Hotspur had the result that they wanted after last weekend’s drubbing at Manchester United.
Kane spent the later part of the 2012-13 season on loan at Leicester City, where he managed only two goals in 13 Championship appearances and the speed of his progress remains difficult to comprehend. Given his first senior call-up by the England manager Roy Hodgson on Thursday, he took his tally for the season to 29 goals. He stands to become the first Spur since Gary Lineker in 1991-92 to reach 30.
But Kane’s heroics were only a part of the story of this helter-skelter, error-strewn encounter, in which Leicester contributed fully. They fought back from a dreadful start to boss the second half of the first half, equalise early in the second period and look the likelier team to win until Kane completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot and Jeff Schlupp put through his own goal.
The last time that Leicester played here in the Premier League, they drew 4-4 in 2004 and they almost fashioned an unlikely repeat at the very death, after David Nugent had run through Tottenham’s shambolic defence to shoot home. Mauricio Pochettino hurled down his water bottle in fury but his Tottenham team just about staggered over the line.
Kane can do nothing wrong at present and he put Tottenham in front with his first meaningful touch. Nigel Pearson wore a thunderous expression on the Leicester bench and little wonder. If Kane had been perfectly placed, yet again, it was a dreadful goal to concede and it left the visitors chasing yet another game.
Eric Dier darted unchallenged to meet Andros Townsend’s corner and Kasper Schmeichel, who was back in the Leicester goal after almost four months out with injury, could only bat his flick down at the feet of Kane. The range was point-blank; Kane did what he does.
Pearson’s mood was darkened further moments later when Tottenham fashioned another incision all too easily. Townsend nutmegged Jeff Schlupp with his pass for Kyle Walker and the full-back out-stripped Matt Upson by several yards before pulling back a low cross. Robert Huth got his attempted clearance all wrong and the ball broke to Kane, who swung his boot at it.
The connection was not clean and the effort might have been heading wide of the near post. But this is Kane, and so the ball dutifully took a massive deflection off Huth and set a course for the far corner of the net.
It could be one for the dubious goals panel.
The afternoon had started badly for Tottenham, when Jamie Vardy and the chasing Kyle Walker both clattered into Hugo Lloris as the goalkeeper defended his near post. Lloris was taken off on a stretcher with a gashed knee. Walker’s challenge appeared to do the damage. The annoying thing for Tottenham and Lloris was that the offside flag had gone up against Vardy, whose efforts never dipped below full throttle. He also gave Dier a shiner in an aerial challenge.
The first-half was loaded with incident. David Nugent worked the back-pedalling Michel Vorm with a swerving shot while he almost hit the corner flag with another; Nacer Chadli, who was booked for a lamentable dive, blazed a gilt-edged opportunity over the crossbar after Christian Eriksen had hit the post.
Leicester rallied and they might have been level at the interval. Matty James sparked a lovely move which led to Nugent crossing and Vardy beating Vorm with a smart finish and, but for Danny Rose’s challenge, Nugent might have equalised in injury-time. Leonardo Ulloa also headed over the crossbar. This Tottenham defence routinely gives up chances.
It was remarkable to see how Tottenham loosened their grip, although Leicester’s never-say-die spirit ought not to be overlooked. Pochettino’s team lost their bearings at around the moment that Chadli lost his upon that bad miss on 23 minutes and, as Leicester grew, they became inexplicably jittery. Basic errors crept it and the home crowd began to fret.
Nobody could say that the equaliser was not deserved or well advertised.
From Ulloa’s cross on 49 minutes, Nugent somehow could not finish from close range, with Walker in attendance but, from James’ resulting corner, Tottenham’s marking lapsed and Wes Morgan stooped to bullet a header past Vorm.
At that point, Leicester were firmly in the ascendancy. Nabil Bentaleb escaped censure for a foolish slap at Ulloa while Huth flashed a header narrowly wide from another James corner.
But Leicester offered up another gift when Nugent took a heavy touch inside his area and then put his arm across Danny Rose, who went down to win the penalty. Kane’s conversion was low and true.
The hapless Chadli blazed over again before Eriksen was blocked by Schmeichel only for the ball to hit Schlupp and deflect back in. Nugent got the better of Jan Vertonghen following Vardy’s flick to cut the arrears but Leicester ran out of time.
Guardian
