Robbie Savage paid a reluctant tribute to Harry Kane and Steven Bergwijn after Tottenham Hotspur’s dramatic 3-2 Premier League victory over Leicester City on Wednesday, speaking to BT Sport (19 January, 10pm).
When Spurs 2-1 down at the King Power Stadium and chasing a route back into the game, Antonio Conte looked to his bench and brought on a man who had scored just once in his last 37 top-flight games.
But in the space of some 80 seconds, Bergwijn scored more Premier League goals than he had in the last 18 months, since a 1-1 draw with Manchester United in the summer of 2020.
Slamming home an equaliser in the 95th minute, Bergwijn appeared to have rescued a deserved point for the London giants.
But we should have known, as soon as the usually surgical Youri Tielemans rolled the ball straight to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from the resulting kick-off, that this was a night when all established order went out the window.
Hojbjerg whipped a pass into Harry Kane. Kane turned and threaded an inch-perfect through ball in behind the Leicester defence.
And, as the clock struck 97, Bergwijn rounded Kasper Schmeichel and slotted the most unexpected of winners into the back of the net, clipping the far post on it’s way across the line.
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“The second goal for Bergwijn is an unbelievable finish,” says former Foxes favourite Savage. “But, from Leicester’s point of view, it was disgraceful.”
Leicester appeared to have three points in the bag in the 94th minute. By the time the final whistle echoed around a stunned King Power Stadium three minutes later, they had absolutely nothing to show for their efforts.
To use a popular Sir Alex-ism; ‘football, bloody hell’.
“Tielemans tried a straight pass and then (Jannik) Vestergaard doesn’t get tight with Harry Kane, drops off. The gaps are too big,” Savage roars.
“It’s a fantastic pass from Harry Kane, a run from Bergwijn and an unbelievable finish. But from Leicester’s point, it’s an absolute shambles. It’s not acceptable.”
Tottenham are still unbeaten in the Premier League under Conte.
And one wonders what this means for Bergwijn’s Spurs career.
If this is his final appearance as a Spurs player, then what a way to bow out.
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