Graham Potter paid tribute to the ‘outstanding’ Harry Kane after Tottenham Hotspur’s talisman broke a Premier League record in Wednesday’s 2-0 away win at Brighton and Hove Albion, speaking to the Seagulls website.
If Brighton are, as they say, ‘on the beach’, then Harry Kane was the ravenous, blood-thirsty great white shark skulking beneath the waves, baring his razor-sharp teeth and ‘dun dunning’ his way into the top-flight record books.
Kane might have let Brighton off the hook in the first half, scuffing wide after a Robert Sanchez howler. But arguably the most lethal marksman in English football was never going to miss his cue twice in one evening.
Played in by a well-timed Rodrigo Bentancur through ball, Kane rattled home Tottenham’s second of a rather comfortable night on the South Coast.
Doubling the lead given to Antonio Conte’s hot-and-cold side by Cristian Romero’s somewhat-fortunate opener.
No player has ever scored more away goals in the Premier League. His 95th, rattled home with trademark efficiency on his weaker left foot, saw Kane overtake Wayne Rooney as Brighton suffered a sixth successive top-flight defeat.
Is Harry Kane the Premier League’s best player?
“Absolutely outstanding player,” said Potter, who was actually linked with the Tottenham job before Conte’s arrival in November. “His record speaks for itself. It doesn’t need me to say anything more.”
Tottenham’s second of the night, and Kane’s first, was the latest in a long line of counter-attacking goals from a side who are starting to make rapid-fire transitions something of a trademark.
Then again, that is perhaps to be expected. Given the way Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan decimated the rest of Serie A with a largely similar party piece in 2020/21.
“They do it well,” Potter adds. They’ve got some wonderful attacking players so it’s not easy to keep them quiet. Obviously, as soon as they’re 1-0 up, they can play a little more on the transition, on the counter-attack.
“We gave everything. We tried. Just today, the quality difference was too big for us.”
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