Harry Kane Wonder Strike Grants Spurs Victory Over Ronaldo's Juventus
21st July 2019
Son Heung-min started the move by holding up play and feeding Troy Parrott for a clear run at Gianluigi Buffon in the Juventus goal
- Harry Kane scored a stunning 93rd minute winner from the halfway line as Tottenham Hotspur edged Juventus 3-2 in an entertaining pre-season friendly in Singapore on Sunday
- The England captain latched onto Lucas Moura's short pass and launched a first-time shot high over a scrambling substitute keeper Wojciech Szczesny
- A youthful Spurs dominated the first half as Juventus struggled to adapt to their new coach's "Sarri-ball" tactic of playing out from the back with short, quick passes
SINGAPORE, Singapore- Harry Kane scored a stunning 93rd minute winner from the halfway line
as Tottenham Hotspur edged Juventus 3-2 in an entertaining pre-season friendly
in Singapore on Sunday.
The England captain
latched onto Lucas Moura's short pass and launched a first-time shot high over
a scrambling substitute keeper Wojciech Szczesny as Spurs rallied past new
manager Maurizio Sarri's Italian champions in front of a delighted National
Stadium crowd.
"It's probably
one of the best goals of my career. I noticed the keeper was often off of his
line and thought if I get a chance to shoot I will and it just went in,"
Kane said in a post-match interview.
A youthful Spurs
dominated the first half as Juventus struggled to adapt to their new coach's
"Sarri-ball" tactic of playing out from the back with short, quick
passes.
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Instead of moving
the ball forward, Juventus often found themselves defending desperately after
being caught in possession as Spurs pressed high up the pitch with the Premier
League side going on to take a deserved lead on the half-hour mark.
Son Heung-min
started the move by holding up play and feeding Troy Parrott for a clear run at
Gianluigi Buffon in the Juventus goal, with the 17-year-old forward's low
strike parried by the veteran keeper straight into the path of an unmarked Erik
Lamela for a routine tap-in.
"It was a very
good game, very competitive. To be honest, we are still short in our
preparations and I wasn't planning to play this way so early in the pre-season
... we were still hoping to give some players more rest after a long
campaign," Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino said.
"The result was
not the most important thing today, the performance was and how we continue our
preparations for the upcoming season."
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Juventus had more
success after the break when they increased their tempo and went more direct,
and halftime substitute Gonzalo Higuain levelled the score in the 56th minute
with a drilled strike after exchanging neat passes with Federico Bernardeschi.
Buoyed by the
equaliser, Juventus were soon ahead when Cristiano Ronaldo arrived late to
drive home Mattia De Sciglio's cutback four minutes later, leaving to rapturous
applause by an adoring crowd when he was substituted immediately after scoring.
Spurs were level in
the 65th minute, however, when Champions League semi-final hero Lucas fired
home record signing Tanguy Ndombele's low cross, the French midfielder finding
the Brazilian with his first touch after coming on as a substitute.
Kane and Higuain
both squandered good chances to score winning goals in the final 10 minutes
before the England striker prevented the contest going to a penalty shootout
with the most brilliant of strikes.