Kane shows there’s more to his game than goals

SOUTHAMPTON, England (Reuters) – Harry Kane has been Tottenham Hotspur’s leading marksmen for the last six seasons, but after becoming the first Englishman to make four assists in one Premier League match at Southampton on Sunday, the Spurs skipper showed there is more to his game than goals.

With Gareth Bale signed to provide further competition for places in the forwards department at Spurs, the current strike force made a real statement in the 5-2 win at St Mary’s.

Son Heung-min will grab the headlines for his four-goal haul and a first Premier League hat-trick, but the quality of the service deserves also high praise.

Each Kane assist was impressive in its own right, with the final pass for Son’s fourth the pick of the bunch as he clipped a curling cross into Son’s path on the run without even looking.

“Four amazing assists from Harry, he deserves the man of the match award,” Son said.

“We have been working for five season together now. We know what we like and work hard on our relationship on and off the pitch. Hopefully, there are many more goals to come.”

Spurs manager Jose Mourinho was equally fulsome in his praise.

“In the second half, Harry Kane killed the game, the way he connected the game, the way he was dropping, he allowed Son Heung-min into attacking spaces,” Mourinho said. “His performance was amazing.

“He is man of the match for what he did for the team. Sometimes people think strikers just score goals, but he creates a whole new dynamic that they (Southampton) could not resolve.”

Before the trip to Southampton, Kane, for all his brilliance in front of goal, had provided only eight Premier League assists in the last three seasons.

In comparison to other leading central strikers in the Premier League — Sergio Aguero (17), Jamie Vardy (14) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (11) — that assist return was not impressive.

However, with Son in red-hot form on one side, and Bale determined to make an impression on his return to the Premier League on the other, Kane’s creative talents could become a more regular feature of Tottenham’s play.