Harry Kane produced his finest Tottenham Hotspur performance since 2017 during Saturday’s 2-0 triumph over Manchester City, according to Gary Neville on Sky Sports (21 November, 7:00pm).
In arguably the most intriguing clash of the season so far, football’s arch pragmatist lefts the purists tearing their hair out in North London.
Pep Guardiola’s goal-shy Manchester City dominated 67 per cent of the possession and mustered 22 shots to Tottenham’s four.
While Toby Alderweireld rolled back the years with a defensive performance for the ages at one end, the red-hot Kane sparkled at the other as Jose Mourinho reclaimed his place on the Premier League throne for the time being.
The Spurs skipper might not have got on the scoresheet during a 2-0 win which announced Tottenham as genuine title contenders, but it was he who made the difference in his new-look ‘nine-and-a-half’ role.
Kane bullied City’s £120 million central defensive partnership of Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias throughout, creating the space for Heung Min-Son’s fifth-minute opener before producing his eleventh assist of a stunning season for Gio Lo Celso’s second-half clincher.
For Neville, Kane’s performance was reminiscent of Tottenham’s 4-1 battering of Liverpool back in October 2017.
“He is messing with them (Dias and Laporte) like you wouldn’t believe. I remember a few years ago at Wembley when they played against Liverpool and Kane was sensational against Dejan Lovren that day and he got substituted,” Neville said.
“This is as good as I’ve seen Kane play since. He’s has some brilliant games but this in a top game, a hard game against Manchester City. He’s been spectacular.
“Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias are £40million-£50m centre-backs. These are top centre-backs, and they’ve been given the run-around.”
With Kane and Son in the form of their life, Alderweireld back to his best and Eric Dier, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Moussa Sissoko and Tanguy Ndombele growing by the week, Mourinho may just have the spine of a title-winning team at his disposal.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
