Kane hits perfect hat-trick in win

Harry Kane celebrates after scoring Tottenham's first
goal
Harry Kane's first Champions League hat-trick made
it two wins from two group games for Tottenham
with a 3-0 victory at APOEL Nicosia.
The in-form striker gave Spurs a first-half lead
against the run of play when he latched on to Toby
Alderweireld's through-ball and finished coolly, after
the hosts had earlier hit the crossbar.
Hugo Lloris was forced into two good saves after the
interval as APOEL continued to threaten, but deadly
Kane finished off another swift breakaway when he
was set up by Moussa Sissoko.
And the England striker took his current Champions
League tally to five in two games, and nine goals in
all competitions this season, when he headed home
Kieran Trippier's cross from the right to net a perfect
hat-trick.
Player Ratings
APOEL Nicosia: Waterman (6); Lago (7), Rueda
(7), De Camargo (7), Vinicius (6), Zahid (6),
Sallai, (7) Morais (6), Vouros (6), Aloneftis (8),
Carlao (6)
Subs: Farias (6), Alexandrou (6), Makris (6)
Tottenham: Lloris (7); Alderweireld (6), Sanchez
(6), Davies (6); Aurier (5), Dier (6), Winks (6)
Trippier (7); Sissoko (6), Son (7); Kane (9)
Used subs: Llorente (6), N’Koudou (6), Georgiou
(6)
Man of the match: Harry Kane
Boss Mauricio Pochettino insisted there was "no
excuse" for Tottenham not to win the game, despite
arriving in Cyprus with seven first-team players
missing through injury or suspension - and the
scoreline belied how uncomfortable it was for them
for large periods.
Egged on by a raucous band of ultras in the home
end, Igor de Camargo rattled the goal-frame on 19
minutes after being put through by Stithies Aloneftis,
before Carlao headed wide at the far post completely
unmarked.
Tottenham Hotspur's Welsh defender Ben Davies (L)
vies for the ball
Spurs - playing Ben Davies in a back-three with right-
back Kieran Trippier filling in at left wing-back - were
forced to hit APOEL on the break for their goal,
similarly to how they beat Borussia Dortmund a
fortnight ago, and fortunately they had Kane to side-
foot home the opener.
Heung-Min Son, who also scored in that 3-1 win at
Wembley, went close from a tight angle as Spurs
went in search of a second immediately after the
interval, but APOEL twice went nearly hit an
equaliser and Lloris did well to beat away Roland
Sallai's clever volley and a fierce shot from left-
winger Efstathios Aloneftis.
Team news
Spurs made three changes to the team that beat
West Ham – Kieran Trippier, Harry Winks and
Son Heung-min all came in. Christian Eriksen
was ill while Dele Alli and Jan Vertonghen were
suspended.
Pochettino removed Serge Aurier as the hour-mark
approached, switching Trippier to his more familiar
right-back and bringing on Fernando Llorente, who
combined well with Sissoko to set up Spurs' and
Kane's second.
Kane celebrates his second goal
Sissoko picked out Kane unmarked in the penalty box
and he found the far corner, and then Trippier beat
his man on the far side four minutes later to cross
for Kane and his first hat-trick in Europe's elite
competition.
There was even time for Pochettino to hand Anthony
Georgiou - of Cypriot descent and one of two
academy stars on the bench for Spurs - his debut for
a club looking very comfortable in the Champions
League surroundings.
Kane went home with the match ball
Opta stats
Huddsf'ld vs Tottenham
September 30, 2017, 11:30am
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The manager - Mauricio Pochettino
"We are growing in the last few seasons, being
competitive. We need to show ourselves we can
compete at that level, against these types of teams,
against Real Madrid in the Champions League. But I
think we will be very motivated to play against the
best team in the world."
Man of the match - Harry Kane
Who else? Kane was once again in ruthless form and
showed he is there for Spurs even when they are not
playing well. His positioning was most on point
tonight, especially for his third and second goals,
where he found space for his team-mates to pick him
out. The definition of clinical.
What's next?
Strong travellers Spurs continue on the road this
Saturday lunchtime against newly promoted
Huddersfield Town - a game which is live on Sky
Sports Premier League.
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Kane hits perfect hat-trick
in win
By Lyall Thomas in Nicosia
Last Updated: 26/09/17 11:48pm
Kane has now scored 34 goals in 30 competitive
appearances for Tottenham in 2017.
Kane has now scored in four successive
Champions League appearances - only the
second English player to do this in the
competition after Steven Gerrard (five in a row).
Kane's treble means that he has scored six hat-
tricks in 2017 alone and nine in his whole career -
all for Spurs.
Spurs have netted six goals in the Champions
League this season from just eight shots on
target.

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