Harry Kane was again Tottenham Hotspur’s saviour when he scored in the sixth minute of stoppage time to complete a dramatic comeback and rescue a 2-2 draw at home to West Ham United in the Premier League on Sunday.
The visitors had taken a deserved 2-0 lead with a goal in each half from Cheikhou Kouyate and Diafra Sakho, while two superb saves from Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris prevented them further increasing their advantage.
A scrappy 80th-minute goal from Danny Rose, however, heralded a late cavalry charge from the hosts and when Alex Song made faint contact with Kane the striker tumbled to the ground, prompting referee Jonathan Moss to point to the spot.
Kane’s tame first effort was parried by West Ham keeper Adrian but he gobbled up the rebound from close range for his 24th goal of the season in all competitions.
“Today we went 2-0 down and I didn’t see one head drop or anyone look disappointed,” Kane told BT Sport.
“We knew that we had half an hour and we said if we got one goal another will come. We left it late again but that showed the character in the squad.”
West Ham have now won one of their last nine matches and are eighth on 39 points, while Tottenham are sixth on 44, three adrift of Manchester United in fourth, which is the final Champions League qualifying spot.
HOSTS’ PROTESTS
After a bright start at White Hart Lane, Spurs fell behind, as they have done frequently this season, when Kouyate drilled his header past Lloris midway through the first half.
The visitors should have doubled their lead when Lloris beat away Sakho’s effort, but the striker made amends after 62 minutes when he arrived at the far post to squeeze Mark Noble’s cross back across goal and into the net.
The hosts’ protests that Enner Valencia was offside when the ball was crossed came to nothing and the visitors would have increased their lead further if Lloris had not made a superb save and then cleared with his feet to deny Valencia.
Spurs, however, have now recovered 16 points from losing positions this season and the fight back began when Adrian fluffed a punch clear, allowing fullback Rose to send a bouncing effort looping into the net.
Spurs then laid siege to the visitors’ goal and were rewarded when Song put his arm on Kane as the forward burst into the box, giving him the chance to tumble for a penalty, which he dispatched at the second attempt.
“You can’t put your hands on anyone today otherwise they will go to ground and make the referee’s mind up,” West Ham manager Sam Allardyce told BT Sport.
It is the start of an important week for Spurs who face Fiorentina in the second leg of their Europa League last-32 clash on Thursday, before playing Chelsea in the all-London League Cup final on Sunday.
