Antonio Conte was a notable absentee from the touchline in Tottenham's Premier League match against Manchester City on Sunday after the Italian underwent surgery earlier in the week. The Spurs boss was back recovering in Italy and therefore missed the game but he will have undoubtedly been proud of what he saw from his players.
Harry Kane provided the winning goal after just 15 minutes against Man City with that strike seeing the England captain break Jimmy Greaves' goalscoring record of 266 for the club. Spurs then put in a tremendous defensive shift to prevent the reigning champions from scoring at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the fifth consecutive occasion.
Cristian Stellini, Conte's right hand man, was the man in the dugout for Spurs with his touchline managerial record remaining at 100% after he guided Spurs to their Champions League win against Marseille, with Conte in the stands after being sent off in the previous game against Sporting CP.
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Despite the absence of Conte, Spurs put in a typical gut-busting performances associated with tactics and plans of the 53-year-old. Following the win, a special interview was conducted on the pitch with Kane naming the moment as "magical".
Speaking to Sky Sports post-match, Kane revealed: "It’s hard to put it into words, just a magical moment and I was so desperate to do it with a win as well, I wanted to win so bad. Once we went 1-0 up it was just about keeping the clean sheet and to do it in front of the home fans just a moment I’ll never forget.
"Especially being here at home in front of the fans, there’s been so much talk about it over the last couple of weeks and I just wanted to get it done as soon as possible so to do it in a big game against one of the best teams in the world, it’s a special feeling."
Kane also spoke over the PA system with thousands remaining in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and there was another person who wanted to hear from the record-breaker. In a video captured from inside the Spurs dressing room, Kane was handed a phone by Son Heung-min with Conte on the other end.
Much of the audio is unclear but Conte can be heard saying to Kane, "you make me so proud". The conversation continues with Kane telling his manager, "we'll see you on Wednesday". That remark brought a lot of cheers from his teammates as it would mean they were given an extra day off following their superb victory.
Son then clearly begins chanting "two days off" in the hope Conte decides to reward the team for their tireless shift before they head back into Premier League action against Leicester next Saturday.
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