Kane closes in on record to send Spurs through
Tottenham was yet again indebted to Harry Kane, who scored his 17th goal of the season to send Spurs into the fourth round of the FA Cup.… Show More
Tottenham was yet again indebted to Harry Kane, who scored his 17th goal of the season to send Spurs into the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Kane moved just one goal away from becoming Tottenham's joint all-time leading goalscorer to secure a 1-0 FA Cup third-round win over Portsmouth.
The England captain is a solitary goal behind the great Jimmy Greaves' haul of 266 for Spurs after opening the scoring with a sublime second-half finish.
Having scored four times in as many games since the World Cup, Kane is determined not to let the prospect of making history play on his mind.
"I try to not think about it," he told BBC Sport.
"Sometimes you can think too much. Obviously I feel in good form and I feel fit. My mindset is to help the team and hopefully the goals will come.
Kane's next outing will be against fierce London rival Arsenal in the Premier League.
Against Portsmouth, Antonio Conte's men had failed to register a shot on target in a poor first-half display but were much improved after the interval against a side without a win in nine League One games – resulting in boss Danny Cowley's sacking this week.
Pompey showed no signs over being overawed in a positive start, Reeco Hackett-Fairchild forcing a save from Fraser Forster with an early left-foot volley.
Spurs were short of ideas as they were unable to break down their well-drilled opponents, Kane having a close-range effort blocked by Denver Hume before Son Heung-min fired wide late in a drab first half.
Tottenham showed more urgency early in the second half and Emerson Royal rose to head Son's cross against the post before Kane got the breakthrough with a classy finish.
The prolific striker exchanged passes with Ryan Sessegnon before unleashing a sumptuous strike into the bottom-right corner from the edge of the penalty area five minutes after the break.
Oliver Skipp should have doubled the advantage when he blazed wildly over the crossbar from inside the box but Kane's goal was enough for Spurs to advance.
