Tottenham Hotspur saw Harry Kane bag a hat-trick against APOEL Nicosia on Tuesday night.
Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane (C) celebrates with teammate Fernando Llorente
Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane continued his stunning goalscoring form on Tuesday night, bagging a hat-trick in the 3-0 Champions League win over APOEL Nicosia.
Kane, 24, has been banging in goals left, right and centre in September, and that continued with a perfect hat-trick in Cyprus as Spurs picked up a second straight Champions League win.
With goals from his left foot, right foot and his head, Kane scored the perfect hat-trick – and his adapted role in the final half an hour helped Spurs seal the win.
Fernando Llorente of Tottenham Hotspur comes on for Serge Aurier
Tottenham were unconvincing against APOEL, often failing to show creativity in the final third without the ill Christian Eriksen, before Mauricio Pochettino made a tactical change.
Pochettino decided to bring striker Fernando Llorente on for wing back Serge Aurier, placing the Spanish target man as the focal point of the attack, whilst allowing Kane to drop deeper and pick up the ball.
Kane’s second and third goals were a fine example of what he can do in that role; the second came with a late run to the edge of the box and a calm finish, whilst his third saw him link up play and again attack from deep to head home.
Given that Pochettino has rarely gone for two strikers, Tuesday’s success shows how can get Llorente and Kane into the same team, using Llorente’s physicality to occupy defenders, opening up space for Kane to work in behind him.
Such a tactic may not be used regularly by Pochettino, but it does give him another option in attack, especially when Spurs are lacking goals or creativity, as they were for the first hour against APOEL.
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