Huddersfield Town’s Danish goalkeeper Jonas Lossi (R) reacts as Tottenham Hotspur’s French midfielder Moussa Sissoko (3L) celebrates scoring the team’s fourth goal during the English Premier League football match between Huddersfield Town and Tottenham Hotspur at the John Smith’s stadium in Huddersfield, northern England on September 30, 2017.Lindsey PARNABY / AFP
A Harry Kane masterclass ensured Tottenham cruised to a 4-0 victory against Huddersfield on Saturday.
Tottenham beat Cypriot champions APOEL Nicosia 3-0 courtesy of a brilliant Kane hat-trick on Tuesday and he was just as impressive in West Yorkshire, killing off Huddersfield inside the opening 20 minutes with two superbly taken goals.
Ben Davies put Tottenham ahead early on and substitute Moussa Sissoko added a late fourth as the London side blew away David Wagner’s men.
The early kick-off gave Tottenham a chance to keep in touch with the Premier League leaders and they gleefully took that opportunity against a Huddersfield team with plenty of heart but little real quality.
Huddersfield have proven to be surprisingly durable in defence this term, keeping four clean sheets in their opening six league matches, but that was long forgotten during a 90 minutes they will want to forget.
They were more than a match for Spurs early on as Tommy Smith had one fine long-range effort palmed away by Hugo Lloris and Rajiv van la Parra also saw Eric Dier block another opportunity.
However, Kane underlined again why he is one of Europe’s hottest properties and why almost every major side in the world would love to have him.
After nine minutes, Huddersfield’s Chris Lowe was caught napping at the back, the England striker raced through on goal and calmly slotted past Jonas Lossl to put Spurs ahead.
It was the kind of cool and clinical finish that Premier League fans have come to expect from the 24-year-old.
Wagner’s side remained lively but the visitors moved the ball very quickly and it was not long before Davies had doubled their lead as Huddersfield’s defence again failed to deal with Spurs’ forward forays.
After seven one-touch passes, the ball bobbled loose to Davies 16 yards out and he had all the time in the world to clip a shot past Lossl.
– Wonderful –
Spurs were fortunate not to concede a penalty shortly after their second goal as Davinson Sanchez clumsily barged Elias Kachunga inside the area.
But any hopes Huddersfield could get back into the contest were extinguished after 23 minutes when Kane scored a goal so good that even Huddersfield’s fans applauded.
Kane, with his back to goal and two defenders nearby, shrugged off their attention, swivelled and hit a wonderful curling effort past Lossl from 25 yards.
The strike was Kane’s 13th in September alone and meant Spurs had scored three goals in three consecutive away performances.
Huddersfield kept running but were fairly shell-shocked by the scoreline and Dele Alli could have made it four after 30 minutes but his close-range toe-poke hit the post from a tight angle.
Just before the break, Laurent Depoitre smashed an effort against the Spurs crossbar.
Huddersfield certainly did not give up but they lacked the class needed to get back into the contest.
Spurs took their foot off the accelerator after the restart and the entire game took a dip in quality as a result.
Dier and Christian Eriksen continued to harass Huddersfield but their impact was limited and Kane failed to see enough of the ball to cause further trouble.
Spurs took Eriksen off towards the end and his replacement Sissoko blasted one low effort straight as Lossl but then did better in stoppage-time, bundling home to seal the victory.
The Emir of Katsina, Abdulmumini Usman, has declared support for the Peace Corps bill passed by the National Assembly. The bill, which seeks to turn the Peace Corps, a non-government organisation, into a government paramilitary agency, has elicited mixed reactions from Nigerians. Proponents see it as an avenue to create jobs for thousands of youth while critics describe as a duplication of functions already being performed by existing agencies and creation of another bureaucracy at a time the country is finding it difficult to pay workers' salaries. The bill was opposed by existing military and security institutions in Nigeria and the Peace Corps leader Dickson Akoh is currently being prosecuted for alleged fraud. Apart from lawmakers, the bill is also supported by some prominent Nigerians including the Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung, who also asked Mr. Buhari to sign to it. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Katsina emir made a similar call on the president on Thursda
N igerians must move on together as a breakup is not an option, former Senate President, David Mark, said on Friday. “Those who are agitating for otherwise are missing the point. Nigeria has crossed many crucibles. We cannot reverse ourselves,” Mr. Mark told Kaduna State Acting Governor, Alhaji Aminu Shagali, in Kaduna. He was at the head of a delegation of the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA) 3rd Regular Course Alumni Association on a courtesy visit to the acting governor. “The only option is to move on in a manner that is progressive, peaceful and united,” he was further quoted as saying by his media aide, Paul Mumeh. “We may have our disagreements. But a breakup is not an option. We can resolve our differences through meaningful dialogue and genuine conversation." “There is no use heating up the polity,” the ex-Senate president added. He noted that no matter the imperfections, the nation is greater and better as an indivisible country.
Comments
Post a Comment