Harry Kane moved closer to an England call-up by scoring twice as Tottenham Hotspur leapfrogged Arsenal in the Premier League table with a 2-1 win over their bitter rivals.
Kane has now scored 22 goals this season, and with England manager Roy Hodgson watching, he was the name on everyone’s lips as Spurs claimed victory at a jubilant White Hart Lane on Saturday.
The 21-year-old’s brace enhanced his growing reputation, and with Champions League qualification set to go to the wire, Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino is hopeful that Kane will prove the difference.
Photo: AFP
“Harry showed he is perhaps the best goalscorer in the competition,” Pochettino said after a result that left Spurs below fourth-place Manchester United on goal difference, having played a game more.
“His quality and potential are massive, but he has more to learn and we will help him to do that. If the manager [Hodgson] thinks Harry is good enough for the national team, I am happy, but it is his decision,” Pochettino said.
Pochettino knows that Tottenham are potentially on course to finish above Arsenal in the table for the first time in two decades.
Kane equalized in the 56th minute, tapping in after David Ospina parried a header from Mousa Dembele, and then rose to meet Nabil Bentaleb’s cross with a glorious, match-winning header four minutes from time.
Tottenham travel to Liverpool tomorrow and Pochettino hopes the effects of a bruising derby battle will not upset their hopes of a top-four finish.
“We need to keep playing the same way. We know it will not be easy to keep all the players fit, but this is our challenge,” Pochettino said.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who tasted defeat in his 700th league game in the dugout, believes the fight for Champions League qualification will go to the final day of the season.
Arsenal are back in action at home to bottom club Leicester City tomorrow and Wenger is seeking an instant response from his players.
“It leaves us with a massive disappointment to swallow first and then to prepare for the next game,” said the Frenchman, who was once again without injured top scorer Alexis Sanchez.
“We’ve played two more away games than Spurs. They’ve played 13 at home, 11 away; we’ve played 13 away and 11 at home. It is down to our home form,” Wenger said.
“We know we can win away, but it will be a battle every year, which it has been with Spurs. We just must focus on us as lots of teams are battling to get in there,” he said.
“We play Leicester, who are fighting hard to stay up, so it won’t be easy. We must be ready to respond,” he said.
Meanwhile, in other matches on Saturday, hosts Everton tied Liverpool with no points scored.
Crystal Palace secured a 1-0 away win against Leicester at King Power Stadium.
Visitors Hull City tied 1-1 with Manchester City.
Queens Park Rangers suffered a 1-0 defeat by Southampton in London.
At Liberty Stadium, Swansea City and Sunderland tied with one point each.
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
RSS