Kane: Tottenham’s second goal should be mine

Posted Sunday, April 08, 2018 by PA

Harry Kane claimed he did score Tottenham’s winner at Stoke to break a personal goals record, even though Christian Eriksen has been credited with it.

The Premier League Match Centre reviewed the 63rd-minute goal and eventually determined that Eriksen’s free-kick had gone directly beyond Potters goalkeeper Jack Butland in Spurs’ 2-1 success.

However, Kane has since argued he got the faintest touch on the ball and should therefore be awarded his 36th goal of the season.

That would be his best haul across one campaign for Tottenham and would also take Kane four goals behind Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, who is leading the way in the race to finish as the divison’s leading marksman.

“It was my goal, it flicked off my shoulder and went in,” Kane told Sky Sports.

Kane’s last goal had come against Crystal Palace in February and should this strike remain credited to Eriksen, he would have gone 322 minutes without scoring.

Eriksen, who had earlier opened the scoring for Tottenham with his fourth goal in three games, added: “He celebrated like it was his goal so I will have to take his word for it.”

The identity of the matchwinner does not matter to manager Mauricio Pochettino as Tottenham followed their victory over Chelsea by opening up an 11-point gap over the fifth-placed Blues.

“I don’t have time to see on TV,” Pochettino said.

“He (Kane) said it touched his shoulder but I don’t know. The most important thing is the three points for us.

“Whether it was Christian or Harry we are happy because the three points were massive for us and put us in a really good position in the table to achieve what we want – to finish in the top four.

“I think it’s a natural for striker they need to feel the net. Of course if Harry scored, and he feels he scored, it’s fantastic for his confidence.”

Spurs have now won six straight games in the Premier League and their fans will now be looking up the table at overtaking Liverpool and Manchester United.

“First of all our target is top four,” Pochettino added.

“It would be fantastic to be (there for a) third time in a row. To have the possibility to play Champions League in the new stadium…I think would be a great achievement.”

Stoke’s winless streak has now been extended to nine games, although they showed plenty of fight having been beaten by four-goal margins in each of their last four games against Tottenham.

Their effort was appreciated by the supporters too as they applauded Paul Lambert’s side at the end of the game, despite them being now four points from safety with five fixtures remaining.

“We don’t look like a team in the bottom two, that’s for sure,” Lambert said.

“We’ve played Arsenal and Spurs in the last two games and we should have probably picked up points that we deserved.

“I’ve been in the game a long, long time, had big moments in my own career, but I’ve not seen that (being applauded) too many times. You’d have thought we’d have won the game the way the support was.”