Harry Kane says his record-breaking goal for Tottenham was everything he dreamed about after his winner against Manchester City made him the club’s all-time leading scorer.
The 29-year-old fired into the bottom corner after quarter-of-an-hour of Sunday evening’s 1-0 win over City to move onto 267 goals for Spurs and beyond the late Jimmy Greaves’ tally that had stood since 1970.
Academy graduate Kane moved level with Greaves with the only goal at Fulham two weeks ago and expressed his delight at becoming Tottenham’s leading marksman with the winner in a big match.
“It is quite surreal,” Kane said in an on-pitch interview.
“Just a magical feeling to do it here, in front of the home fans and to win the game. It was everything I dreamed about.
“I have spoken about doing it over the last couple of weeks and I wanted to do it at this special place and in front of these amazing fans.
“I have been here since I was 11 years old, a lot of hard work, sacrifice and dedication.
“Just a surreal moment and hard to take it all in now. I am sure when I am a bit older and looking back on my career, it will be something I look back on extremely proud of. To do it in front of my family and friends was incredible.
“To do it in a big game, against a really good side, in an important moment in our season, I couldn’t ask for any more.”
Harry Kane celebrates. (Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)
In the dressing room, Kane took a call from Spurs boss Antonio Conte, who is recovering from surgery to remove his gall-bladder.
Tottenham assistant manager Cristian Stellini, standing in for Conte, praised Kane’s achievement.
“Harry Kane is football. In his DNA, you can smell every time he can show the best football you can see,” the Italian coach said.
Kane is now also the third player to have reached 200 Premier League goals, but has done so the fastest.
Former England striker Alan Shearer, who holds the all-time record at 260, paid tribute to Kane.
Captioning a photograph of him and fellow former England captain Wayne Rooney (208 EPL goals), Shearer said: “Congratulations @HKane passing the great Jimmy Greaves record at @SpursOfficial.
“Also @WayneRooney and I were wondering where you’ve been! Well done on joining the 200 @premierleague club.”
City were looking for a victory to trim the gap to Premier League leaders Arsenal to two points. In the end, Arsenal weren’t punished for losing 1-0 at Everton on Saturday — and maybe that’s no surprise.
After all, City now haven’t won, or even scored, in five games at Tottenham’s new stadium in either the Premier League or the Champions League.
Even the absence of Tottenham manager Antonio Conte, recovering in his native Italy after having his gallbladder removed this week, couldn’t change the narrative around this particular fixture.
City were the architects of their own downfall for the goal, just as when they conceded two sloppy first-half goals against Tottenham last month before rallying for a 4-2 win at the Etihad.
This time, there was no comeback despite a second-half resurgence sparked by the belated introduction of Kevin De Bruyne, who was benched for the second straight game against Tottenham, and the 87th-minute sending-off of Cristian Romero for a second yellow card.
“Sooner or later it is going to change,” City manager Pep Guardiola said of his team’s record at Tottenham’s new stadium.
“But it’s strange. We haven’t scored one goal, we create chances, we have missed penalties in the past. To find an explanation is not easy.”
City lost for the fourth time this season in the league and stayed five points behind Arsenal, who have a game in hand as they bid for a first top-flight title since 2004.
Fifth-place Tottenham moved a point behind fourth-placed Newcastle in the race for Champions League qualification.
In the day’s other game, Keylor Navas swapped playing for Champions League contenders for EPL relegation candidates – and he immediately looked at home.
The Costa Rica goalkeeper made a string of great saves on his debut for Nottingham Forest in their 1-0 win over Leeds that moved the team six points clear of the relegation zone.
“Outstanding and composed,” Forest manager Steve Cooper said of the three-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid, who moved from Paris Saint-Germain this week.
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