Harry Kane scored a hat-trick for Tottenham against Hull on Sunday.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino
Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino has told Football.London that he substituted Harry Kane against Hull City due to a physical problem.
Spurs ended their season in style as they hammered Hull 7-1 at the KCOM Stadium, with star striker Kane bagging a hat-trick – his seventh goal in four days.
Dele Alli, Victor Wanyama, Ben Davies and Toby Alderweireld also got on the scoresheet for Tottenham in a remarkable win, with Sam Clucas scoring what proved to be a consolation for the already-relegated hosts.
After beating Leicester City 6-1 on Thursday, Spurs went one better with Sunday’s 7-1 victory, and ended the season on a high with 86 points to their name.
It was a particularly fruitful end to the season for striker Kane, who was crowned as the Premier League’s top goalscorer for the season with a stunning 29 goals to his name, despite playing 30 games.
Tottenham’s Harry Kane celebrates scoring their second goal against Hull
With ten goals in his final seven games of the season, Kane usurped Romelu Lukaku in the goalscoring charts to retain his Golden Boot award, though there was some disappointment at Hull.
Kane was substituted on 79 minutes in favour of Vincent Janssen, robbing him of the chance to go for goal number 30 in the final ten minutes, which would have been a remarkable achievement.
Tottenham’s Harry Kane applauds fans after the match with the matchball
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has now explained his decision, telling Football.London that a ‘physical problem’ meant that Spurs had to be smart and bring him off, even though he could have snatched his 30th goal of the campaign.
“After he scored his third goal I don’t know if you remember but he was having a bit of a struggle, a physical problem,” said Pochettino. “It was a moment to take responsibility and a good decision. I prefer that next season the challenge is to score 30 goals and that he keeps safe and healthy and ready to go to Hong Kong and then the international games he needs to play. It will be a challenge for him to score 30 goals next season,” he added.
Do you think Kane can hit 30 Premier League goals next season?
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