Home Sport Kane’s strike helps Spurs maintain Champions League quest

Kane’s strike helps Spurs maintain Champions League quest

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Goals on either side of half time by Harry Kane and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg helped Tottenham Hotspur pick up all three points from their Premier League game against Wolves on Sunday.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane celebrates with teammates after scoring their first goal in their Premier League game against Wolverhampton Wanderers in London on Sunday. Photo: Andrew Couldridge/Reuters

LONDON – Harry Kane scored his 22nd Premier League goal of the season as Tottenham Hotspur beat Wolves 2-0 on Sunday to maintain their hopes of a top-four finish.

England captain Kane fired Spurs ahead on the stroke of half-time before Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg doubled their lead in the 62nd minute.

Victory left Spurs in sixth place, five points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, with a maximum of six points available to them from their final two league games.

The top four in the Premier League are assured of a place in the 2021/22 Champions League.

Already crowned Premier League title-winners Manchester City and Chelsea will contest this season’s Champions League final in Porto on May 29.

But if the Blues – beaten in Saturday’s FA Cup final by Leicester – remain in the top four there won’t be an additional Champions League place given to the fifth-placed side in the Premier League.

Deposed English champions Liverpool, currently fifth, will move to within a point of Chelsea if they win away to already-relegated West Bromwich Albion later Sunday.

Eighth-placed Everton, Liverpool’s local rivals, are at home to bottom of the table Sheffield United in the day’s concluding Premier League match.

Kane’s goal put him back in front of Liverpool’s Mohamed Saleh in the race for the Premier League’s golden boot as well as strengthening Spurs’ hopes of a Europa League place.

“Today our performance was excellent,” interim Spurs manager Ryan Mason told the BBC. “We controlled the game.

“This is Tottenham Hotspur. We want to be playing in the biggest competition in the biggest games. This season hasn’t gone to plan,” added Mason, appointed after the north London club sacked Jose Mourinho.

Kane gave Spurs the lead running onto Hojbjerg’s through ball behind the Wolves defence, before rounding goalkeeper Rui Patricio and curling the ball into the corner of the net.

Hojbjerg made it 2-0 just after the hour when he followed up Gareth Bale’s shot and tapped the ball in after Patricio could only parry.

Palace hit back

Earlier, Crystal Palace twice came from behind to beat Aston Villa 3-2, with Tyrick Mitchell’s first goal for the club sealing victory six minutes from time.

John McGinn’s third goal of the season put Villa ahead in the 17th minute at Selhurst Park before Christian Benteke equalised against his former club with a 32nd-minute header.

But Palace fell behind again two minutes later when Anwar El Ghazi scored from close range.

The Eagles equalised for a second time in the 76th minute when Wilfried Zaha grabbed his 11th goal of the season with low shot deflected in off Ahmed Elmohamady.

The comeback was complete in the 84th minute when the 21-year-old Mitchell followed-up from close range after team-mate Eberechi Eze had miscued.

Victory lifted Palace to 13th.

Palace hope to welcome back supporters for Wednesday’s match at home to Arsenal.

“Let’s hope we can encourage those fans who are here on Wednesday night to make noise,” Palace manager Roy Hodgson told the BBC.

“We have to reproduce what we did in the second half and give them something to enjoy,” the former England boss added.

AFP

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