Alan Shearer: Tottenham player was ‘too clever’ for two Manchester City stars

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Alan Shearer has told Match of the Day that Harry Kane was “too clever” for Manchester City duo Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte on Saturday evening. The England skipper scored twice, as Spurs beat Manchester City 3-2.

Spurs came into the match after three straight defeats in the Premier League, and their hopes of a top-four finish looking all but over. A fourth loss was likely, given the form Manchester City have been in of late.

But Spurs looked pumped up, and Antonio Conte got his tactics bang on. Dejan Kulusevski opened the scoring, after Kane let Son Heung-min free with a gorgeous first-time, left-footed pass. Ilkay Gundogan equalised.

Kane put Spurs 2-1 up, a deft finish with his right foot. Drama ensued in injury time, Cristian Romero handling saw Riyad Mahrez score a late penalty – only for Kane to power home a Kulusevski cross to win 3-2.

Shearer was full of praise for Kane, the player that remains on course to surpass Shearer’s all-time Premier League goalscoring record. He said Kane was “too clever” for Manchester City’s centre-backs, Laporte and Dias.

“One of the best all-round centre-forward performances all season I’ve seen anywhere this season. Intelligence, aggression, goals, assists, he was far far too good for Laporte and Dias

“It is not often we say that about them. It was far too good, he was too clever for them. What a performance, it had absolutely everything, he was magnificent,” Shearer said on Match of the Day on Saturday evening.

Shearer on Kane: Is Tottenham star back to his best under Conte?

Four goals in his last four games and six in 10 since the turn of the year certainly suggests so. While Kane has just seven Premier League goals to his name this season, he has still found the back of the net 17 times for Spurs.

An impressive 23 in 39, for club and country, suggests that while the majority of those have come against weaker opposition in the Europa Conference League and World Cup qualifying, Kane has not lost his touch.