Tottenham analysis: Harry Kane enjoys another perfect night as Harry Winks regains his rhythm

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Tom Collomosse27 September 2017

Tottenham kept pace with Champions League holders Real Madrid thanks to Harry Kane's perfect hat-trick against APOEL.

Kane now has five goals in two Group H - dubbed the 'Group of Death' following the draw - games and 11 in March for club and country.

In truth, Spurs first two goals came against the run of play at the Cypriot outfit proved a tough opposition, but the third goal - a header for a perfect treble - killed off the game.

Tom Collomosse was in Nicosia to assess the key talking points...

EPA

Winks regains rhythm

Mauricio Pochettino last week admitted that Harry Winks, Tottenham’s homegrown midfielder, was struggling to find confidence again after suffering a bad ankle injury last April, but his first-half display here suggests he is back in business.

With Christian Eriksen absent through illness, the main creative burden fell to Winks and he did not disappoint. APOEL’s cautious tactics gave Winks little room in which to operate but he showed great imagination with the ball, frequently finding his way between markers or releasing wing-backs Kieran Trippier and Serge Aurier into space.

With Mousa Dembele’s long-term fitness a serious concern, Pochettino will be delighted to have Winks in form again.

EPA

Deadly Kane

Harry Kane used to bristle when asked whether he could score goals in the Champions League, but he can be confident that those questions will no longer be posed. Kane has seven in his last four matches in this competition, and five in two this season.

His opening strike here was particularly impressive, as he had received little service during the first half and was tightly marked by the APOEL back four.

A defensive slip allowed Kane to move on to Toby Alderweireld’s pass from deep and he found the ideal position on the edge of the penalty area before guiding the ball past APOEL goalkeeper Boy Waterman. His strike in the second half was similarly precise and soon afterwards he completed his first Champions League hat-trick to put Spurs in a strong position in the group.

EPA

Fortune favours Tottenham

In home matches in the league this season, Tottenham have not had a lot of luck. In three games at Wembley, they have collected only two points, but they created enough chances in all those matches to have won them.

After the events of the first hour against APOEL, and of much of the game against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley two weeks ago, perhaps Spurs will reflect that their good fortune will come in Europe this season.

Dortmund were the better side for long periods in London and here, APOEL hit the bar and wasted several excellent chances before Kane buried them with Spurs’ second goal.

While Tottenham will rightly be proud of their win, Pochettino will know that a better team would probably have taken at least one of the opportunities APOEL squandered.

EPA

Pochettino shows his class

Without Jan Vertonghen, Mousa Dembele, Dele Alli, Victor Wanyama and Eriksen, Pochettino had to improvise a line-up.

He started with 5-3-2, with Ben Davies in the back three and Aurier and Trippier the wing-backs, but the system left Spurs looking vulnerable on the break, with Aurier struggling to contain the impressive left-winger Stathis Aloneftis.

With Tottenham 1-0 up but wobbling, Pochettino acted, sending on Fernando Llorente for Aurier and switching to a four-man defence. Not only did Spurs look more solid, with Trippier at right-back, the plan allowed Kane to drop slightly deeper.

Sure enough, the England forward’s second and third goals happened because he arrived late in the box, unchecked by the APOEL defence. Pochettino used to be accused of being too rigid; this is no longer the case.