Kane on target to boost Spurs’ Euro hopes

Harry Kane scored his first goal since returning from injury as Tottenham boosted their hopes of European football with a 2-0 win that keeps West Ham deep in relegation trouble.

Tomas Soucek had unwittingly bundled into his own net (64) to finally gift the breakthrough to a Spurs side that had seen Heung-Min Son denied by a marginal offside call at the end of an even first half.

Kane, passionately backed to thrive in a Jose Mourinho team by his manager ahead of kick-off, then raced onto Son’s through-ball and finished smartly (82) on his 200th Premier League appearance for the club.

Mourinho’s men had struggled for fluidity in attack against their London rivals but a first league win in five moves them to seventh – six points off fourth-placed Chelsea – for now at least.

Jarrod Bowen hit the post for West Ham before Kane made sure but a fifth defeat in six means David Moyes’ beleaguered team stay above the relegation zone only on goal difference, having played a game more than the sides below them.

How fit-again Kane made sure for Spurs

Both sides knelt again before kick-off in Spurs’ cavernous stadium but it was West Ham who had early sight of goal when Michail Antonio cushioned a ball on his chest and flicked into the path of Mark Noble, whose penalty appeals were futile.

The visitors were far perkier after a damaging defeat to Wolves and a double Spurs intervention was needed as Hugo Lloris blocked Antonio’s angled shot with his shins, before Eric Dier repelled Bowen’s follow-up.

But Moura, jinking to craft space, forced Lukasz Fabianski into a fingertip save at the other end and Kane, without a single touch in the penalty box against Manchester United, rifled one fierce effort and then flashed a header wide as Spurs sought a foothold.

Mourinho watched on pensively as a string of subsequent home attacks instead fizzled out, before a breakthrough that proved short-lived. Son spun to celebrate after cutting inside and drilling low into the corner, only for Stockley Park’s red line to render him offside. “That’s what VAR has been brought in for,” said Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp. “Whether you like it or not, it’s the right decision.”

Moura should have found the net legitimately seconds later, side-footing wide when well-placed, but Spurs returned with fresh impetus, Dier taking aim and then Kane going close with an improvised flick at the byline.

Pablo Fornals spurned a rare West Ham chance, scuffing Bowen’s cut-back, but Spurs’ aim remained equally off as Dele Alli dragged wide and Kane drilled across goal but just beyond the far post.

The deadlock was finally broken in the scrappiest style. Soucek failed to adjust his feet as Moura flicked on Lo Celso’s delivery, though replays showed the ball had brushed Davinson Sanchez’s arm.

West Ham were agonisingly close to hitting back when Bowen struck an upright but Spurs instead doubled their lead within minutes, Kane timing his run to collect Son’s pass and curling into the corner.

The England striker might have grabbed a second from Serge Aurier’s centre just before the whistle but Kane was already back in the goals after a six-month lay-off and back, as Mourinho predicted, in the headlines.

What’s next?

Tottenham face Sheffield United at Bramall Lane – live on Sky Sports – on Thursday July 2, while West Ham play Chelsea in another London derby that night before. That game is also live on Sky Sports.

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