Kane flattens Dinamo

Tottenham will carry a two-goal advantage to Croatia’s capital next week after Harry Kane’s brace defeated Dinamo Zagreb at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The England captain scored his 25th and 26th goals of a stellar campaign to install Spurs as heavy favourites to reach the Europa League quarter-finals.

Reflecting renewed hope of a top-four Premier League finish – and paying due deference to Sunday’s upcoming derby with Woolwich – Jose Mourinho rotated his side. Alderweireld, Hojbjerg, Moura and Bale all began the evening on the bench as Dier, Sissoko, Lamela and Alli were entrusted to navigate Spurs beyond Dinamo.

The Croatian side made a rapid start to the match and could have led within 40 seconds. Ndombele played a languid pass towards the right-back position, unaware that Aurier had already vacated the spot to supplement the home side’s attack. The pacey Mislav Orsic seized on the mistake and charged forward. But with Davinson Sanchez thundering down upon him, the forward choked a weak shot at Hugo Lloris.

Startled from their slumbering start, Spurs quickly snatched the initiative. With five minutes played, Son worked some space in the Zagreb area before shaping a ball to the back post, where he had spotted Dele Alli’s timely run. The cross was just too high but exposed a distinct lack of mobility in the visitors’ defence.

Aurier’s relentless running was proving particularly difficult for Dinamo to halt. Just before the 20-minute mark, Erik Lamela released the Ivorian on the right flank. The Argentine sped into the Zagreb box, seeking the return. Just as it looked as though he would reach Aurier’s low centre, Dominik Livakovic abandoned his goal-line to intercept with a thumping volley. It may not have been conventional goalkeeping, but it emphatically averted the danger.

The keeper, however, was powerless to prevent Tottenham from taking the lead five minutes later. Kane, dropping deep in the centre of the pitch, swept a long pass aimed for Son. Zagreb won the first ball, but the second eventually broke to Ben Davies. The left-back rattled a pass into Lamela at the base of the Zagreb area. Letting the ball run across his body, Tottenham’s number 11 drove towards the goal. Stepping inside the last defender, Lamela’s outside of the left foot shot cannoned off the post. There, with seeming clairvoyance, was Harry Kane to steer the ball into an empty net.

Galvanised by the goal, Tottenham’s pressing intensified, and several times the Croatian side surrendered possession in dangerous areas. That his side failed to capitalise on these opportunities could have been Mourinho’s only real complaint in a dominant first half.

The second period started in a similar vein. Three minutes after the interval, Ndombele backed Lovro Majer into his own area with a bamboozling stepover before pushing the ball between the Dinamo man’s legs. Flummoxed, Majer could only bring the Frenchman down. The on-field referee’s error in waving Tottenham’s appeals away was then compounded by the VAR official inexplicably deciding not to intervene.

Determined to press home his side’s superiority, Mourinho refreshed his attack in the 64th minute. Lamela, Alli and Son made way for Moura Bergwijn and Bale. The switch almost bore an immediate result. Kane changed the play to Bale, who swerved a glorious outside of the boot cross to the back post. Steven Bergwijn met it on the volley, but the Dutchman’s effort was tentative and easily repelled by Livakovic.

While Bergwijn’s search for a first goal of the season continued, Kane soon had his second of the night. Ndombele’s raking pass was volleyed across the six-yard box by the surging Aurier. Kevin Theophile-Catherir swiped an attempted clearance into Kane’s path. The striker engineered a yard of space with a quick shimmy before planting a low shot across Livakovic into the far corner.

Satisfied with the scoreline, Mourinho immediately introduced Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg for Ndombele to safeguard Tottenham’s precious clean sheet. The Dane was so keen to meet his manager’s expectations, he tugged Luka Ivanusec back on the halfway line in a rare moment of menace from Dinamo on the break. The costly yellow card Hojbjerg received for his troubles will see the midfielder suspended from next week’s second leg in Zagreb.

A clumsy late challenge on Kane forced the match-winner to gingerly leave the pitch with six minutes remaining. The Spurs manager will hope, ahead of the weekend’s trip to The Emirates, that the icepack immediately affixed to his striker’s knee was merely precautionary. The prospect of Bale, Son and Kane in this form being unleashed upon the Woolwich defence is almost too exciting for Tottenham fans to bear.