Tottenham Hotspur vs Southampton. Premier League.
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Spurs striker hits eighth hat-trick of 2017 to surpass Alan Shearer's calendar year Premier League goals record
Tuesday 26 December 2017 20:42, UK
Harry Kane surpassed Alan Shearer's record for Premier League goals in a calendar year after netting his eighth hat-trick of 2017 in Tottenham's 5-2 win over Southampton.
Shearer's record of 36 goals, set in 1995 while at Blackburn Rovers, was beaten when Kane headed in the simplest of finishes (22) at Wembley on Boxing Day.
A second followed for Kane (39) before half-time, while the England international also netted Spurs' fifth of the afternoon with an exquisite finish to end the year with 39 Premier League goals.
Quick-fire strikes from Dele Alli (49) and Heung-Min Son (51) had put the game beyond Southampton before Sofiane Boufal reduced the deficit (54), while Dusan Tadic netted a consolation late on (82).
The victory lifts Tottenham up to fifth while Southampton have now gone seven league games without a win.
Tottenham's early pressure paid off midway through the first half, with Kane just one yard out when nodding in from Christian Eriksen's pin-point delivery to break Shearer's record with arguably his easiest finish of the year.
Spurs did have a scare moments later, but Hugo Lloris used the post to hep keep out Danny Rose's looping header back after it had looped over the goalkeeper.
Kane put Spurs in control before half-time, rounding off an intricate team move after Alli had picked out Son, who then laid it on a plate for the striker.
After the break, Mario Lemina was within a whisker of pulling one back for Southampton, but after he hit the bar from distance, Spurs extended their lead further.
First Alli curled an effort past Forster from the edge of the box, while two minutes later he turned provider for Son, who slotted the ball home after Nathan Redmond had originally given the ball away.
Boufal squeezed an effort past Lloris for Southampton's first, but three minutes later Kane delightfully lifted the ball over Forster to complete his sixth Premier League hat-trick of 2017.
Tadic did manage to score a late consolation for Southampton after Lloris could only parry the lobbed effort into the net.
Where do you even start when summarising Kane's 2017? 39 Premier League goals in 36 games. Eight hat-tricks in all competitions. 56 goals in 52 games for club and country - more than Lionel Messi (54 in 64) and Cristiano Ronaldo (53 in 60). The list goes on...
And it was a fitting farewell to the year for Kane at Wembley, finishing with aplomb for the third after two simple finishes.
For Spurs, and England, it will simply be the case of hoping that form can continue into 2018.
"Twenty goals now in the season, obviously Charlie Austin is out injured for a while with his hamstring.
"It worries me because what they have done is they were a team a few years ago that we applauded - it is great how they run their club, they manage to sell good players and keep getting better.
"But not now and that catches up with you. In the end, what we are seeing now is if you keep selling your best players and not buying better players, you are going to be in a mess.
"Now by the end of the day they could be a couple of points off the bottom three, a team lacking form and confidence."
Mauricio Pochettino: "First of all I want to congratulate Harry Kane, a massive achievement for him, well deserved,"
"And we are all so, so, so, so happy because it's an amazing thing to celebrate. For me, he's world class.
"I think today, (number) one striker in the world, specific position, who's better than him?"
Mauricio Pellegrino: "I decide that it's the best for the team. I know that around Virgil there will be a lot of speculation but this is my decision.
"It's tactical reasons. The manager decides which is the best for every single game; we win, we draw, we lost with and without Virgil and in this squad right now I have a lot of players who can play.
"Now he's part of our club and we know that Virgil is an important player for us, but we'll see what happens in the future.
"I cannot control the whispers and the news from outside."
Tottenham are back in action on January 2 at Swansea, live on Sky Sports Premier League. Meanwhile, Southampton travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United on December 30.
