HARRY KANE ENDED his free-scoring September in fitting fashion as his brace helped Tottenham to a 4-0 Premier League win over Huddersfield Town.
The England striker has been sensational since the turn of the month and went into Saturday’s contest at the John Smith’s Stadium with 11 goals in September, including five in the last two games, and he wasted little time in adding to that number.
He pounced on a defensive lapse to open the scoring inside 10 minutes and, after Ben Davies had capitalised on further poor work at the back to make it 2-0, Kane found the net for the 13th time this month to put the game well beyond doubt just 23 minutes in.
A stunning bending effort from the edge of the area made it 3-0, Kane’s tally for September matching the best totals of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in a calendar month.
His 36 goals in 2017 are 12 more than any other Premier League player and only Messi can boast more in the top five European leagues.
Moussa Sissoko added late gloss to the scoreline with his first league goal for Tottenham. The victory sends Mauricio Pochettino’s men at least temporarily third in the table, while Huddersfield’s fifth top-flight game without a win serves as a stark reminder of the challenge David Wagner’s side have ahead of them as they bid to remain among the elite.
Huddersfield started brightly and tested Hugo Lloris through Tommy Smith’s low drive, but Spurs soon took command in ruthless fashion with two goals in just under eight minutes. The hosts contributed to their own downfall as Chris Lowe failed to deal with Kieran Trippier’s clearing header, the ball falling perfectly to Kane, who made no mistake in slotting Spurs into a ninth-minute lead by beating Jonas Lossl at his near post.
Lowe was at fault again as Davies doubled Tottenham’s tally. A wonderfully worked move down the right saw Kane send Christian Eriksen through, with Lowe nicking the ball from the Dane only to see it trickle to an unmarked Davies, the Wales international lofting over Lossl to give the Terriers a mountain to climb.
Kane then volleyed narrowly over the crossbar from long range and was nearly presented with a gift after Lossl scuffed a clearance straight to him, but the Huddersfield goalkeeper recovered to deny him. There was nothing Lossl could do when Spurs’ third did arrive, however, as Kane doubled his tally in spectacular fashion.
The 24-year-old received the ball from a throw-in and brilliantly turned two defenders on the edge of the area before curling a sublime effort beyond Lossl and into the left-hand corner.
Dele Alli struck hit the frame of the goal and Kane netted from an offside position as Pochettino’s side threatened to run riot, but Huddersfield went close to producing a superb response when Laurent Depoitre struck the crossbar at the end of a driving run.
Alli was booked for diving in the penalty area in an uneventful second half that saw Spurs maintain control without really threatening to punish Huddersfield further.
Kane, who now has 21 goals in his last 10 away games for club and country, was brought off to a warm ovation from the entire ground, robbing him of the chance to score a second hat-trick in a week.
That away form will be challenged by an extremely testing run of road fixtures against Real Madrid, Manchester United, Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund for Tottenham, who were given additional cause to celebrate following a scruffy fourth from Sissoko.
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