HARRY KANE showed once again why he is a defender’s nightmare and a statistician’s dream.
The England captain marked his 300th Spurs appearance by netting his 200th goal for the club to help get their Europa League bid back on track.
Harry Kane celebrated a double milestone in the Europa LeagueCredit: Reuters
The England international got on the end of a corner to make it 1-0Credit: EPA
Incredibly, half of those goals have been scored AWAY from home and 36 in Europe.
Kane, 27, became only the third Tottenham player to reach the double century and he is now only eight goals behind Bobby Smith and 66 behind their all-time highest scorer Jimmy Greaves.
Barring injury or a dream transfer to Real Madrid or Manchester United – just kidding Spurs fans – you would not back against him overtaking legend Greavsie as the North Londoners’ deadliest marksman.
Kane is also just one away from making it 150 Premier League goals – and with a trip to struggling West Brom to come on Sunday lunchtime it is highly likely he will chalk up another milestone before the international break.
The Prem’s all-time record scorer Alan Shearer, with 260 goals, must be pooping himself.
The way things are going, Kane could easily eclipse the Geordie idol’s top-flight total.
This was the Spurs star’s 12th goal in 13 matches and he even set up their second for Lucas Moura before he was taken off at half-time.
Jose Mourinho’s men were so in control, having created chance after chance, it was difficult to see them throwing away the victory.
But they almost contrived to as Claudiu Keseru pulled one back early in the second half before Giovani Lo Celso tapped in.
This was Tottenham’s second Europa League trip to Bulgaria in 60 days after they needed a late comeback to beat Lokomotiv Plovdiv 2-1 in September’s second qualifying round – although it was not familiar territory for Spurs as Plovdiv is a 200-mile drive away.
Razgrad has a population of just 35,000 – which to put into context is 25,000 less than capacity of Tottenham’s stadium.
Far be it from this newspaper to describe it as a one-horse town but the final suggestion on Tripadvisor’s 10 Things To Do in Razgrad page is visit a coffee shop!
Fortunately, to numb the pain the city is also Bulgaria’s largest producer of antibiotics – which is just as well after Kane left them feeling pig-sick.
Spurs boss Mourinho insisted he would be going for ‘full power’ after last week’s 1-0 defeat at Royal Antwerp where he made NINE changes.
Mourinho blamed that defeat on attitude rather than his selection.
He made six changes from Tottenham’s 2-1 home win over Brighton on Sunday.
Lucas Moura tapped in with ease for his fourth goal of the seasonCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Giovani Lo Celso restored Spurs’ two-goal advantage just after the hour markCredit: Reuters
Once again there was no place in the starting XI for Dele Alli – although these days it is more of a story if he is in the team than out of it.
Kane wasted a great chance to open the scoring after just 77 seconds when he side-footed over the bar from Winks’ great pass.
The England captain then fired a 25-yard doodlebug against a post before Bale’s free kick was scrambled away for a corner by Ludogorets’ frantic keeper Plamen Iliev.
Never mind, Plamen, it was more like Amen as he must have been praying for the onslaught to cease.
But there was nothing he could do as Kane put Spurs in front with a trademark header from Moura’s 13th-minute corner.
Tottenham celebrate together after finding the net in BulgariaCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Claudiu Keseru pulled one back for the hosts five minutes into the second halfCredit: Reuters
Lo Celso then curled a shot over and Moura fired wide as Mourinho’s men went for the kill. Moura just failed to get on the end of a Kane pull-back and Matt Doherty had a shot tipped over the bar.
Spurs had a scare when Moura landed stomach-first on the ball but it was the Brazilan who knocked the wind out of the hosts when he tapped in Kane’s pass to double the lead in the 32nd minute.
It was the Brazilian’s third Europa League goal of the season – but it was Kane who remained the main threat as poor old Iliev denied him further goals before the break by producing credible saves to keep out a header and a shot.
Ludogorets must have been relieved to have seen Mourinho replace the Three Lions skipper with Carlos Vinicius at half-time.
And the Bulgarian leaders’ hopes were raised even further when Romanian striker Keseru pounced to score in the 49th minute after Bernard Tekpetey’s shot had been deflected.
The decision to withdraw Kane was now looking suspect until Lo Celso restored Tottenham’s two-goal advantage with a neat finish from sub Son Heung-min’s pass.
Jose Mourinho defends Harry Kane over penalty incident in Tottenham’s 2-1 win over Brighton
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
