Harry Kane’s brace secured a 2-0 victory for Tottenham Hotspur against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Sunday evening.
The striker reached another milestone in his brilliant career as he scored his 200th career league goal inside 10 minutes in the East Midlands, before notching his 201st within the final 10 minutes of the match. The England captain could have bagged a hat-trick had he not been denied by Dean Henderson from the penalty spot.
We are running out of superlatives for the Englishman as time and again he delivers the goods and we are no longer surprised by these personal accolades. After all, this latest milestone comes a week after he broke the record for most Premier League goals for a single club by netting against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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It was a lively start from both sides with Forest keen to kick on from last weekend’s draw away at Everton but it was the visitors who struck first. Dejan Kulusevki picked up the ball, drove into the Forest half before slipping a beautiful reverse ball to Kane who slotted past a wrong-footed Henderson in the Forest net. By setting up his teammate, Kulusevski became the third fastest player to reach 10 assists in the Premier league, taking just 21 games to do so.
The hosts didn’t let it keep them down however, and proceeded to press forward, with Neco Williams, Brennan Johnson and Ryan Yates all looking dangerous. As Tottenham defenders were throwing their bodies on the line to block shots at one end, they looked ever dangerous on the break, with the pace of Son Heung-Min causing problems.
✨ 200 league goals ✨
The Tricky Trees lived up to their name as they continued to push for a leveller in the second half. Gibbs-White floated in an inviting ball from the left but Ryan Yates’ header failed to hit the target. Down at the other end, Spurs were awarded a penalty for a Steve Cook handball, to which Henderson denied Kane - his second penalty save of the season. Not long after he was called into action again to deny Son from inside the area as he pulled off some impressive stops throughout the afternoon.
Despite Cooper’s attacking changes and Forest’s continual pushing for a leveller, a lapse in concentration at the back wrapped up the three points for Spurs as substitute Richarlison found Kane unmarked at the back post for the simplest of headers.
In the latter stages of the game, Spurs brought on former Forest loanee Djed Spence, who almost scored moments after his introduction. Henderson did well to keep him out and the home fans jeered as he couldn’t convert the opportunity.
The result sees Antonio Conte’s side maintain their unbeaten start to the season and sit just two points behind leaders Arsenal. It wasn’t their greatest performance but this is where the Italian and his players show their pedigree in that they are clinical when they are needed to be, and deliver results.
As for Forest, they will be disheartened at the result and how they let the game slip from them with the second goal, but Steve Cooper will be encouraged by the attacking play he saw from his side. Morgan Gibbs-White, Jesse Lingard and Brennan Johnson all linked up well and with more games alongside each other, they look to become a dangerous threat to their league rivals.
