Tottenham 2 Everton 0: Harry Kane scores on historic 400th Spurs game as Conte’s side keep the pace at top of Prem

FOR Harry Kane, two out of three ain’t bad.

And his penalty was crucial in turning the game in Tottenham’s favour. 

PA

Kane scored on his 400th appearance for Tottenham[/caption]

When Kane missed the second of two spotkicks in the Champions League game against Eintracht Frankfurt, he and Spurs were a little lucky that it did not cost them.

But the home fans yet again had cause to be grateful to their talismanic No 10 for playing a decisive role in making sure a display that was frustrating at times nevertheless produced an important victory.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg added a late second but it was Kane who made the difference.

He just loves playing against Everton, and this was his 14th goal in 15 Premier League games against the Merseysiders.

Kane’s penalty set Tottenham on the way to their eighth successive home win in the league, a run stretching back to the end of last season.

It’s their best sequence since the 2016/17 campaign, when Mauricio Pochettino’s side challenged for the title only to be pipped by a Chelsea side led by a certain Antonio Conte.

If Spurs can keep grinding out wins like this then it’s possible they will still be there or thereabouts in May.

Just don’t expect it to be as much fun as watching Pochettino’s team.

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Kane started the week by reading a bedtime story on CBeebies.

But if you have a child who struggles to settle at night, you might also try showing them some footage of Conte’s Tottenham – quite a lot of this game, for example.

Talks between Tottenham and Google about a naming rights deal are at an early stage and the internet giant would be a fittingly blue-chip sponsor for the magnificent stadium.

Time will also tell whether Conte can build a side worthy of the club’s facilities and traditions.

It doesn’t matter what search engine you use: type in Tottenham or their manager’s name, and “sexy football” and “sparkling entertainment” will not be top of the results.

Everton, in the end, could have no complaints about defeat beyond regretting their inability to convert a couple of golden first-half chances.

Lampard’s side are no longer the soft touches they were when losing 5-0 at the same venue in March and looking like a decent bet for relegation to the Championship.

Of the starting 11 from that day, only Jordan Pickford and captain Seamus Coleman began the game – although a third survivor, Richarlison, was on the pitch, but in Tottenham’s colours.

The Toffees still have problems scoring goals but they went into the game with the joint meanest defence in the league.

Frank Lampard’s response to the challenge of managing Tottenham’s mobile front three was to deploy Dwight McNeil on the left of a five-man defence and demand a high workrate when his team did not have the ball, which was a lot of the time.

Richarlison should have done better with an early free header but otherwise Spurs found it hard to create chances.

There’s a long way to go, but James Tarkowski and Conor Coady are leading contenders for signings of the season.

Tarkowski gave Kane early notice that he was not going to have as easy a time against Everton as usual and can count himself unfortunate not to be in England contention.

EPA

Hojbjerg sealed all three points for Spurs late on[/caption]

Coady IS in Southgate’s plans and showed the other side of his game with a fine diagonal pass that set up the second best chance of the first half.

Demarai Gray turned Rodrigo Bentancur and bore down on Hugo Lloris’ goal, but hit his shot badly off target.

Kane almost created something out of nothing for himself, but England colleague Pickford snuffed out the danger.

It said a lot about Tottenham that their player of the season so far, Hojbjerg, made the mistake that gave Everton another great opportunity.

This time it was Amadou Onana who charged through but like Gray he could not even hit the target. Richarlison volleyed Kane’s cross over the bar in stoppage-time but Spurs did not deserve to go into the break in front.

Something had to change and an injury to the Brazilian forced Conte’s hand early in the second period.

On came Yves Bissouma to give Spurs another body in midfield and, the home fans, hoped a better balance.

Almost immediately Kane connected well with a Ben Davies cross but Pickford saved well and Son Heung-Min hit the follow-up over the bar.

The South Korean then failed to get enough on a header from an Ivan Perisic cross to trouble the Everton goalkeeper.

But then Pickford undid all his good work. After spilling Matt Doherty’s shot, he compounded the error by bringing down Kane.

The England captain moved anothers step closer to Jimmy Greaves’ all-time club record with an emphatic penalty kick.

Pickford denied Kane a second soon afterwards, and one goal always looked like being enough despite Dominic Calvert-Lewin coming off the visitors’ bench.

But Hojbjerg’s deflected effort after a Bentancur cross made sure of the result.

Everton are now much harder to beat, yet still find it tough to win.

As long as Kane keeps scoring and Spurs keep winning, few at White Hart Lane will care that they are easy to admire but difficult to love.