Kane heads late, late winner in dramatic game at City - report and reaction

Harry Kane’s 95th-minute goal gave us a stunning victory over Manchester City at the Etihad on Saturday evening.

Leading 2-1 as the game entered stoppage time, it looked we were going to have to settle for a point when Riyad Mahrez converted a penalty awarded for handball against the superb Cristian Romero by VAR, but we had the final say when Kane headed home Dejan Kulusevski’s cross to give us the most dramatic of three points.

We made the dream start after just four minutes when Heung-Min Son was sent away down the left and he squared for Kulusevski to score from the edge of the area on his full debut - just reward for an impressive display from the attacker.

As expected, City responded in a dominant fashion and were on top for the rest of the half and after a number of chances, they drew level when Hugo Lloris – making his 400th Spurs appearance - failed to hold onto Raheem Sterling’s dangerous cross and Ilkay Gundogan slammed home the loose ball.

We regained the lead in some style just before the hour mark, Son picking out Kane to finish with a superb half-volley and it was an enthralling contest at this stage with both sides going for it. Lloris made a stunning one-handed save to tip away Gundogan’s curler while we thought we had a third when Kane drilled in from Kulusevski’s deflected effort, but the Swedish international was offside in the build up.

Our hearts were broken when Mahrez then stepped and drilled his spot-kick into the top corner in the 92nd minute but we produced an incredible finale to snatch the points thanks to Kane’s header deep into stoppage time, thus completing the double over the reigning champions.

A stunning win in Manchester

Drama and games between us and Manchester City seem to go hand-in-hand and this one was certainly no different! Whether they are Champions League or Premier League clashes, there is always plenty to discuss and this win will be talked about for some time.

It was such a good goal to open the scoring, starting with a short goal-kick from Lloris to Romero. He found Ben Davies, who passed infield for Kane and his first-time ball sent Son away down the left in on goal. As Ederson came out, Son squared for Kulusevski to slide home from the edge of the area for his first Spurs goal.

The tactics were clear for all to see as out of possession, we were defending with five at the back, four in midfield and Kane up top and, naturally, that invited City on to us and allowed them to have plenty of the ball. In that first period, City looked dangerous and we couldn’t really make inroads with our counter-attacking game. Joao Cancelo fired just wide with a couple shots and Gundogan hit the outside of the post with a right-footed effort before they levelled on 33 minutes. Sterling delivered a teasing ball into the box, Kevin De Bruyne almost got a touch on it as Lloris slid out to gather but the skipper couldn’t hold onto it and the ball bounced out to Gundogan who snaffled up the opportunity.

City started the second half on top but, as the game wore on, our attacks started to have much more penetration and it led to a fantastic game of football. Kane sent Son away on 54 minutes only for ex-Spur Kyle Walker to hold him up and his shot was easy for Ederson. But five minutes later, we were ahead again with another beauty of a goal. Again it was Kane in the number 10 role who created it, picking the ball up and pinging it over for Son. It was just cut out by Ruben Dias but Ryan Sessegnon was quickly onto the loose ball and found Son, who spotted Kane’s run into the box and clipped in the perfect cross for his team-mate to score with a stunning first-time half-volley. Both goalkeepers then made superb saves, Ederson keeping out Kane’s effort from close range before Gundogan’s curler was heading for the top corner but Lloris dived full-length to tip it past the post.

A third goal would have given us a cushion but it was snatched away from us when VAR ruled out Kane’s strike for offside by Kulusevski and that lifted City. It was real backs to the wall stuff for the final stages and that pressure finally told when the home side were awarded a penalty, VAR deciding that Romero blocked Bernardo Silva’s cross with his hand and Mahrez levelled it up at 2-2.

With everyone anticipating the final minutes of stoppage time to be non-stop City pressure, we got the ball and Rodrigo Bentancur picked out Kulusevski on the right, he sent over a cross which Kane – who was simply sensational on the night – met with a header which bounced out of Ederson’s reach and nestled in the back of the net – truly a sight to behold!

Major milestone for Hugo

Lloris became only the 12th player to reach the 400-appearance milestone for the Club since we joined the Football League in 1908/09. The list is led by another legendary skipper, Steve Perryman with 854 games, while our current captain will now be targeting Maurice Norman who sits in 11th on 411 appearances.

We have now won four of our last five Premier League games against Manchester City (lost one), with this result joining three home victories.

After Son’s assist for Kane’s first goal, the duo have now equalled the Premier League record for goal combinations with 36, joining Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba at the top of the list.

Team news saw Antonio Conte make four changes to the team that started against Wolves last time out – Eric Dier, returning from injury, Emerson Royal, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Kulusevski came in for Davinson Sanchez, Matt Doherty, Harry Winks and Lucas Moura, who were all on the bench.

Reaction on Spurs TV

'The players showed great commitment, great belief'

Antonio told Spurs TV after the game at the Etihad: "First of all, congratulations to my players, because we prepared for this game very well, and after three defeats it wasn’t easy, especially when you play against Manchester City, who I consider at this moment the best team in the world. To come here, score three goals, maybe four, it means your performance was very good.

"I think this type of performance has to give us confidence. We showed that we are working very well, that we are creating a stable team, because when you have this kind of performance after three defeats against City, it means we are starting to be stable. In my opinion, in my experience, to give good results, you have to be stable, not up and down. I’m pleased, especially for the players, because the players showed great commitment, great belief and it was incredible after the penalty and 2-2, okay, you could say we’re happy because 2-2 is a good result against Manchester City, but instead we wanted to win."

Highlights on Spurs TV

Match data

Goals: Manchester City – Gundogan 33, Mahrez 90+2 (pen); Spurs – Kulusevski 4, Kane 59, 90+5.

Yellow cards: Spurs – Hojbjerg, Romero, Lloris.

Referee: Anthony Taylor.

Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester.

Weather: Light showers at times, moderate breeze, three degrees.

Attendance: 53,201.