Harry Kane netted a brace on his 300th Premier League appearance as Tottenham Hotspur turned up the heat to cruise their way past Crystal Palace 4-0 in a superb second half showing on Wednesday evening.
Spurs’ leading man was on hand to spark his side into life after a poor first half display at Selhurst Park. For many of Tottenham’s recent encounters they had started games badly but been able to respond and rescue points. But there was no such response when they played Aston Villa at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last time out. They were well beaten and they needed to deliver a response in south London.
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And judging by the first half against Palace it felt like the same old story was happening. But all of a sudden they came out of the traps quickly for the second and not only were they up for the fight, but they started to look like they knew how to play football again. Antonio Conte will get the plaudits for whatever words he gave his team during the interval but he still needs to be criticised for yet another slow start from Spurs.
Minutes after the restart Kane headed home an Ivan Perisic cross to score on his 300th top-flight appearance and join former striker Teddy Sheringham as the only player to do so on his 100th, 200th and 300th Premier League match for Spurs. While it was an impressive scoring record to achieve for Spurs’ number 10, it was a huge sigh of relief for the entire team.
For the first time in 11 matches, they had scored the first goal of the game and while there is still a long way for this team to go to compete with their top four rivals, this will give them as much of a lift as the three points. It was another stark reminder that Spurs are lucky to have him in their side because he could easily be winning silverware elsewhere.
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The England international then doubled his tally and Spurs’ lead minutes later when winger Bryan Gil played the ball into him from the right and he fired the ball into the bottom corner with a powerful low drive. Palace were stunned because until Kane’s opener they had been in control of the match.
The defenders had dealt brilliantly with the very little Spurs threw at them in the opening 45, while the attacking players were in control of the game and caused the visitors a lot of problems at the back.
Once Kane scored it was he who was in control of the match. The 29-year-old scored twice but once again we saw him as the creative maestro that he has come to be known as in recent years and he was Spurs’ driving force up the pitch. It was thanks to him that Spurs found their third, scored by Matt Doherty to wrap up the match. And Kane wasn’t done there as he set Son Heung-min away to score the team’s fourth and end his barren run in front of goal.
It was the South Korean’s 200th start in the Premier League as he became the first Asian player to reach that milestone and interestingly his goal was his first from a league start this term. That goal should do wonders for his confidence too, particularly with a crunch clash with north London rivals Arsenal and Manchester City coming up. Conte will be pleased with how his players reacted after their lethargic first half and he will now expect them to build momentum from their second half showing as they prepare for a tough run of fixtures with some key personnel like Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison, and Rodrigo Bentancur, out injured.
This game could prove to be a huge turning point for Spurs' season, and they need it to be. They cannot get complacent, there is still much for them to work on and you can imagine that conversations are going on in the background surrounding potential incomings this month to aid them in their quest for the top four.
