Tottenham recorded a crucial 2-0 victory over Huddersfield Town courtesy of a brace from Harry Kane.
Spurs were without two of their main attacking threats in Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen due to injuries, while Alex Pritchard and Rajiv van La Parra started for Huddersfield.
Surprisingly, it was Huddersfield who started the match on the front foot, and the home team had a claim for a penalty denied by the referee within the first five minutes. The challenge looked to be just outside the box, but no foul was given.
Their brave start did however leave gaps at the back, and some good chances were trickling in for Spurs on the counter attack early on.
In the 25th minute, Spurs made the breakthrough, and it came from a break from their own half. Lucas Moura lead the attack and ended up passing back to Trippier on the wing. The right-back sent a delightful cross towards Harry Kane, who timed his jump perfectly to send the ball into the net.
In the build-up to this goal, Kongolo injured himself in an attempt to tackle Lucas, and the Huddersfield defender had to be stretchered off. This could be a big blow for David Wagner if the injury turns out to be serious.
It took just eight minutes for Kane to grab his second. Rose was dragged back by Hadergjonaj inside the box, and Harry Kane converted the penalty as calmly as ever.
Being 2-0 down didn’t deter Huddersfield though, and right before half time Depoitre smacked the cross bar with a steaming volley – a couple of inches lower and the Terriers would have had a valuable goal at an important time in the game.
Interestingly, Tottenham made two substitutions at half time – Winks came on for Dembele, while Wanyama entered the field after a long injury absence, replacing Vertonghen.
Throughout the second half, Spurs struggled to create any more clear-cut chances, and Huddersfield continued to press for a comeback. During the last fifteen minutes in particular, the victory did not look certain from Spurs’ point of view, and some good saves from Gazzaniga denied Huddersfield from scoring their fourth Premier League goal of the season.
The score ended 2-0 to the Lilywhites, with their goalkeeper picking up a well deserved clean sheet at the expense of the Terriers, who have now suffered three defeats on the bounce.
Are Huddersfield in with a shout?
Town have been struggling for goals so far this season, and they had similar issues for much of last season. Due to this, many people are convinced that Huddersfield may not survive their second season in the Premier League.
But there are signs that Huddersfield have the determination to stay up once again, despite their dismal start to the season. They showed potential going forward, and were unlucky not to score on a couple of occasions.
So I think it’s far too early to write Huddersfield off yet, and their attitude is certainly admirable. The Terriers will be looking to grab their first win against Burnley next weekend.
Harry Kane back to his best
The England captain has received a hefty amount of critisism since the start of the new campaign due to an uncharacteristic lack of shots on goal. After today’s match however, Kane has moved joint top of the Premier League goalscoring table – a position he has become familiar with over the years.
If we are to be honest, the 25-year-old tends to start a new season poorly, but always ends up nearing 30 goals come May.
And today’s match gave Kane a chance to show that he has not lost his goalscoring edge following the World Cup. The end of last week’s match against Brighton provided some good signs for the forward, as he got a good two or three shots off towards goal before the day was out. This seemed to carry over into today’s match, as the striker looked sharp and found himself in a number of promising situations.
In fact, Tottenham as a team look to be improving after their three consecutive defeats, and fans will be hoping to see their team knock at the top spots over the next few weeks.
Man of the Match – Harry Kane
The Englishman caused a number of problems for Huddersfield, and was the predominant force in much of Spurs’ quick attacks. Kane and Lucas are beginning to understand each other and have both been crucial in Tottenham’s goals this season.
