Harry Kane once again proved Tottenham’s saviour
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Tottenham are making an encouraging habit of picking up results without playing at their best after Harry Kane earned Antonio Conte’s side a 1-0 win over Wolves on Saturday.
For the second game running, Kane headed home from a corner, suggesting new set-piece coach Gianni Vio is already earning his money after joining Conte’s staff over the summer.
In common with the fiery 2-2 draw at Chelsea last weekend, when Kane equalised deep into stoppage-time, Spurs were second best for long periods against an organised and technically gifted Wolves side.
As recently as April, this might have been a match where Conte’s side were forced to settle for a draw or even lost, but another home win was further evidence of their improving mentality under the Italian, as they found a way to get the three points after raising the tempo in an impressive start to the second half.
It obviously helps when to have a player of Kane’s enduring quality leading the line, and the England captain’s goal made history for himself and the club.
Kane is now the highest-scorer for a single club in Premier League history, surpassing Sergio Aguero with his 185th Spurs goal in the top flight and 250th overall.
Having already forced Jose Sa into a smart save and struck the bar with a diving header, Kane was in the right place at the right time to meet Ivan Perisic’s flick-on from Heung-min Son’s corner in the 64th-minute -- a move that appeared straight off the training ground and from Vio’s fabled playbook.
It was enough to ensure Conte’s side have taken seven points from the opening three games of the season - and seven more than in the correspondening fixtures last season - justifying the pre-season optimism and suggesting they may have the consistency to run Manchester City and Liverpool far closer this term.
Although Wolves were the better side in the first half and threatened in the final ten minutes, Spurs were solid defensively, with Davinson Sanchez deputising well for the injured Cristian Romero, and held their own against the visitors’ talented midfield which included £38million debutant Matheus Nunes.
And even when not at their best, Spurs’ forwards are always a threat. Son struck the post, Dejan Kulusevski was menacing and Richarlison was very lively after coming off the bench.
If there was a warning for Spurs, it was the way they played in the first 45 minutes. The occasion had the flatness often associated with Saturday 12.30pm kick-offs but the lingering question was whether Conte’s Spurs were just too predictable against an opponent who won here in 2020 and in February.
In April, Brighton and Brentford demonstrated that Spurs could be stopped by well-drilled sides if their front three were starved of space and time, and the make-up of Conte’s XI has not significantly changed since -- even with Perisic making his full debut.
Conte has been reluctant to deviate from his 3-4-3 system but without a creative midfielder in the middle of the park, Spurs found it difficult to breakthrough Wolves’ banks of four.
Spurs occasionally played some intricate stuff in wide areas but there was next to no penetration, with Kane generally well-marshalled by Wolves’ colossal centre-half pairing of Nathan Collins and Max Kilman, and Pedro Neto dropping back to shackle Perisic.
A restless home crowd had to wait until the 44th-minute for Spurs’ first effort of the game, Kane’s header from a Perisic cross forcing Jose Sa to claw over his crossbar.
Wolves, though, were having no problems creating but, as usual, were missing a cutting edge up-front. Nunes came closest in the first half, sending a header just wide of the far post and seeing a shot deflected into the side netting. Goncalo Guedes, a willing runner, also threatened with a shot an inch wide.
There was a sense that Chelsea had worked out Spurs’ in the first half last weekend and might have won the game before Kane’s stoppage-time equaliser if they had a world-class striker.
In many respects, it was a similar story in the opening period here and Spurs will need to play with more verve and imagination against opponents with a proven forward.
Spurs do have a proven striker of their own, however, and that is what counted on the day as Conte’s side dug out another encouraging result before they have really hit their stride.
