Match report
This, I believe, is Tottenham’s biggest ever away win in the Premier League. Not bad. They were exceptional tonight and no one was better than Harry Kane, who scored four. Four! Up to 26 league goals for the season now, he’s got his eyes on the Golden Boot before Sunday’s trip to Hull. Son Heung-Min was also excellent, scoring twice and making Kane’s first, and Tottenham have shown why people are so excited about them. They’ve utterly destroyed Leicester here. Thanks for reading and emailing. Bye.
Full-time: Leicester City 1-6 Tottenham
Harry Kane!
GOAL! Leicester City 1-6 Tottenham (Kane, 90 min+2)
Harry Kane scores his fourth! He is absurd. Leicester have given up, mind you. Kane’s allowed far too much time to pick his spot from the edge of the area and he does so exquisitely, finding the bottom right corner with his right foot. Poor Schmeichel. Leicester have been a disgrace since Tottenham’s third.
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90 min+1: There will be three added minutes.
90 min: Tottenham make their final change, Nkoudou replacing Sissoko. Schmeichel saves Alli’s low effort.
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GOAL! Leicester City 1-5 Tottenham Hotspur (Kane, 89 min)
Harry Kane completes his hat-trick! Released by Lesniak, he runs at Simpson before walloping past the unsighted Schmeichel from the edge of the area! He’s the Premier League’s leading scorer now!
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87 min: This is now target practice for Spurs. Alli shoots over this time.
86 min: Janssen converts Alli’s cross from close range, but the goal’s ruled out for offside.
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85 min: Janssen’s rising drive flies inches over the angle of post and bar from 25 yards. Tottenham make another change, Filip Lesniak replacing Moussa Dembele.
84 min: Still after that hat-trick, Kane sends a shot a couple of yards wide after good work from Janssen.
81 min: Dier’s effort whistles just over.
80 min: Simpson’s booked for a lunge on Alli 25 yards from goal. Dier’s standing over this one.
79 min: Ahmed Musa replaces Jamie Vardy.
78 min: Kane balloons a free-kick miles over. Tottenham make a change. Vincent Janssen replaces two-goal Son Heung-Min.
75 min: Gray’s booked for catching Davies with a high boot.
74 min: Gray slips a pass through to Slimani, who shoots straight at Lloris.
73 min: “You’ve got your Leicester back,” sing the Tottenham fans. They won the league.
72 min: “In defence of my earlier outburst I can only say that though you may understand to some degree what is going on over here you don’t live in it every day,” says JR in Illinois. “I’ve been having quite a difficult time since, oh, sometime in early November. “A football game is a nice two hours to get away from it all. In about 20 minutes I’ll inevitably find out what new and twisted form of insanity has been perpetrated on us while I was watching the game.”
GOAL! Leicester City 1-4 Tottenham (Son, 70 min)
Moussa Sissoko breaks clear down the right with a powerful surge and knocks it inside to Kane. Leicester are all over the show here. Kane moves it on to Son, who decides to go it alone. He moves on to his right foot and places a low shot into the bottom left corner from 20 yards. That’s his second and Tottenham’s fourth!
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68 min: Going for his hat-trick, Kane tries to score from inside his own half. Summary: he slips as he shoots.
66 min: Albrighton’s booked for a cynical foul on Alli, who was threatening to break clear. Leicester make their second change, Demarai Gray replacing Yohan Benalouane. With Leicester playing three at the back since half-time, Amartey drops back into defence.
65 min: Sissoko gives the ball away cheaply. He responds by tripping Chilwell and picks up a booking. “Maybe JR thinks that Chelsea’s title win can be written off like his brother Bobby’s death and we’ll soon wake up to find Pochettino in the shower?” says Steven Hughes.
GOAL! Leicester City 1-3 Tottenham (Kane, 63 min)
What a response from Tottenham! Sissoko finds the overlapping Alderweireld on the right. He stands the ball up to Wanyama at the far post and the Kenyan’s header back across goal finds Kane, who nods into the empty net to restore the two-goal lead! That’s Kane’s second of the evening and 24th of the season. He’s level with Lukaku now.
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GOAL! Leicester City 1-2 Tottenham (Chilwell, 59 min)
With Tottenham playing a high line, Vardy’s sent clear on goal by Ndidi, the flag staying down despite a heavy hint of offside. Obviously Lloris comes steaming out of his area to meet him. The Tottenham keeper wins the challenge, but the ball runs to Ndidi. Lloris is stranded! The goal’s gaping. Ndidi can’t shoot and he’s closed down, but he manages to shovel the ball to Chilwell. He evades a challenge on the edge of area, then threads a low shot past two defenders and Lloris, who can’t get back in time! Leicester are back in this!
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57 min: Alli’s cross drifts out for a goal-kick.
@JacobSteinberg That Golden boot thing for kane has the boys up for this.
— Gene Loves Jezebel (@gljezebel) May 18, 2017
56 min: Son tries another acrobatic volley. This one comes off his shin in the Steinbergian style and loops wide.
54 min: Craig Shakespeare obviously got into Leicester’s players at half-time. They’re pressing feverishly now, the crowd’s come alive and Tottenham are slightly rattled.
53 min: A poor touch on the edge of the Tottenham area from Alli inadvertently sets up Albrighton. He cuts inside, ignores the unmarked Slimani and shoots. His shot’s blocked. If only he’d looked up. Mahrez also tries his luck from 18 yards, but it’s straight at Lloris.
51 min: Amartey belts one over from 25 yards. “Is ‘JR in Illinois’ the new, post-fact Gary Naylor?” says Bruce Jackson.
50 min: “A penny for your thoughts on dead rubbers,” says Jeremy Dresner. “Killing integrity in the prem or an unavoidable inevitable slacking off of hardworking players with nothing left to play for which produces whimsical entertaining proverbial ‘beach football’? I mean if they do produce greater entertainment without the win at all costs thing isn’t that.... good?”
As long as teams aren’t intentionally losing or throwing games, there’s surely not a lot that can be done. It’s impossible to be switched on in your job all year, isn’t it? It’s inevitable that teams with less to play for will have lower motivation at the end of a long season. There’s a simple way to avoid having to rely on others: win your own games.
49 min: Albrighton, sporting that black eye he picked up at City, wins a corner on the right. It’s taken short, but Mahrez’s eventual cross is complete nonsense.
48 min: Alli gets the better of Chilwell on the left, playing continuing despite Leicester’s cries for a foul, but the sliding Kane can’t turn his low cross in.
47 min: A free-kick to Leicester on the right, Davies giving it away. Mahrez’s centre’s headed over by Benalouane.
46 min: Leicester get the second half underway. They’ve made a half-time change, Islam Slimani on for Shinji Okazaki.
Half-time plug
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Half-time: Leicester City 0-2 Tottenham
The title is Chelsea’s, but that doesn’t mean Tottenham aren’t a cracking team. They lead thanks to goals from Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min here and you suspect that this could get worse for Leicester.
45 min: Alli tries another assist dink. Schmeichel claims this one. Not this time, young man.
43 min: Alderweireld wins a corner on the right. “Tottenham are the best team in the league,” says JR in Illinois. “I don’t care what the table says, I don’t care what you say, I don’t care what anyone says. Since we’re in a post-fact world anyhow I feel free to consider them this year’s champions and consider Chelsea’s “title” fake news.”
I respectfully disagree.
40 min: What a joy Tottenham are to watch!
39 min: Davies whips a cross into the middle from the right. Dier’s low glancing header’s saved by Schmeichel.
38 min: This could get ugly. Dembele storms through the middle, Leicester’s midfield completely overpowered. He moves it to the right for Sissoko, who tees up Kane. He’s got an age to pick his spot, but his shot’s blocked.
37 min: Son’s made one and scored the second. Suffice to say, he’s more than made up for that earlier glaring miss.
GOAL! Leicester City 0-2 Tottenham (Son, 36 min)
This is utterly brilliant. Tottenham toy with Leicester on the edge of the area, stroking the ball around with such confidence. Eventually it’s measured to Alli, who imaginatively scoops a pass over the top in the Scholes versus Milan style. Son still has a lot to do, but he lets the ball drop before swivelling to volley low to Schmeichel’s right. What a finish!
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35 min: This isn’t an original observation, but I never thought Kane was going to be this good. There isn’t a better striker in the league at the moment.
34 min: Kane outstrengths Benaloune on the left there, shrugging the Leicester centre-back aside with ease even though he’s trying to foul him. Kane skips away, charging into space, and tries to set up Alli in the middle. His low ball’s overhit, though.
31 min: For a fairly meaningless fixture, this has been enjoyable stuff so far. It’s almost as though these Tottenham players feel liberated and able to express themselves under this manager. More, please!
28 min: Leicester are rocking. Tottenham are oozing class. Davies hangs a cross to the near post and Schmeichel has to push Alli’s downward header away. That’s a good save. Moments later, Schmeichel has to save another effort from the edge of the area. Then it’s Leicester’s turn to attack. Dier misjudges a long ball haplessly and Vardy runs on to it, only to tumble after a slight shove by Alderweireld. The Leicester fans scream for a penalty, but Michael Oliver ignores their appeals.
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GOAL! Leicester City 0-1 Tottenham (Kane, 25 min)
No, Tottenham are no mood to take it easy tonight! Deep on the right, Toby Alderweireld looks up and rakes a searching pass down the line, seeking the run of Son, who’s lurking on the edge of offside. Leicester are caught square. Son sprints on to the pass, reaches the byline and keeps his composure this time. He pulls it back to Kane and though the ball’s ever so slightly behind the Tottenham striker, he manages to stroke it past Schmeichel with his right foot. This goal’s been coming.
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21 min: Benaloune tackles the threatening Alli. Then he tries to take on Kane. No, don’t do that. Kane outmuscles the Leicester centre-back, shrugs him off and makes towards goal. Having turned, he opens up his body and tries to bend one into the far corner from the left with his right foot, as he’s done on so many occasions in the past, but this one flies wide.
19 min: Mahrez sprays a pass down the right for Albrighton to chase. His inviting cross is too far in front of Vardy, though, and he’s the only Leicester player anywhere near it, which is weird because I’m pretty sure Shinji Okazaki owns property in both penalty areas at this stadium.
17 min: Kane hammers the free-kick straight into the wall, the ball spinning off to Sissoko on the right. He decides to have a dig, but wallops it just over.
16 min: Wanyama wins possession in midfield and drives forward. He’s being tugged back by Amartey and Michael Oliver awards a free-kick to Tottenham around 30 yards from goal. Harry Kane fancies this.
15 min: What a miss by Son! Benaloune tries to hoof a ball clear, but it’s whipped away from him by Alli, whose boot might be high. Michael Oliver doesn’t think so, however, and play continues as the ball runs through to the unmarked Son. He’s only got Schmeichel to beat, but he lifts his shot woefully over the bar!
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13 min: A clearance falls to Amartey on the edge of the Tottenham area. He controls before seeing his shot flick off Dier and towards the bottom left corner, but Lloris saves comfortably.
12 min: Sissoko tries a backheel. The ball runs through his legs. He chases after it and ends up fouling Chilwell.
10 min: Tottenham head straight up the other end, with Alli trying to set up Son. He’s tackled before he can shoot in the Leicester area. This is entertaining game of football!
9 min: Mahrez glides inside from the right, the ball glued to his left foot, before he catches the Tottenham defence unawares with a cleverly disguised reverse pass to Vardy. Through on goal, he confidently shoots early, but his firm effort’s too close to Lloris, who gathers at the second attempt.
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8 min: Davies plays a pass inside to Son, who gambols away from Ndidi before whipping a shot over from 25 yards.
5 min: Harry Kane drops off the Leicester back four, turns and plays Son through on goal. Fortunately for the home side, Chilwell’s alert enough to provide cover from left-back, tackling Son before he can shoot from 18 yards. Tottenham have to settle for a corner on the left.
4 min: Amartey pings a lovely first-time pass down the right, releasing Mahrez. But this isn’t the Mahrez of 15/16. The winger’s one-on-one with Vertonghen, but he loses control of the ball with a sloppy heavy touch.
3 min: “£38m for Xhaka, though!” says Joseph Day.
A £5m loan fee for Simone Zaza, though!
2 min: It seems that Moussa Sissoko is playing at right wing-back tonight. He’ll be tested defensively, then. Straight away, Leicester look to attack down the left. But Vardy is offside.
And we’re off! Tottenham, all in yellow, get the game underway. They’re kicking from right to left in the first half.
The teams are out. Football soon!
£30m for Moussa Sissoko, though! Tottenham can’t afford to make that kind of mistake this summer.
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Leicester have made one change from the defeat at Manchester City. Daniel Amartey replaces Andy King in midfield.
Tottenham are without both of their right-backs, Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier. Eric Dier slots in on the right of the defence, then, and Moussa Dembele takes his place in midfield. Christian Eriksen’s also given a rest. In comes the lesser spotted Moussa Sissoko.
Team news
Leicester: Schmeichel; Simpson, Benalouane, Fuchs, Chilwell; Mahrez, Ndidi, Amartey, Albrighton; Okazaki, Vardy. Subs: Musa, Kapustka, Slimani, Zieler, Gray, Wasilewski, Moore.
Tottenham: Lloris; Dier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies; Wanyama, Dembele; Sissoko, Alli, Son; Kane. Subs: Vorm, Wimmer, Lesniak, Shashoua, Eriksen, Nkoudou, Janssen.
Referee: Michael Oliver.
Preamble
Hello. Leicester City might not be the champions of England any more, but the presence of Tottenham at the King Power Stadium does give their supporters a chance to take a walk down memory White Hart lane. Tottenham, of course, were Leicester’s fiercest challengers during last season’s title race and even Mauricio Pochettino’s youthful tyros couldn’t keep up with those fleet-footed Foxes. They’ll always be linked by a common bond, these two, although you suspect one team appreciates it significantly more than the other.
That said, while Leicester will savour last year’s magnificence for the rest of eternity, memories to keep them warm in dark times, Tottenham are the team of the moment (other than, er, Chelsea, the team that won the title six days ago). Their win over Manchester United in the final game at the old White Hart Lane means that they are guaranteed to finish second for the first time in a Premier League, a fine achievement for a club operating on a lower budget than many of their immediate rivals. Have Tottenham fallen short? Yes, but in a way that should only make their supporters excited about whatever’s going to come next. As long as Pochettino stays and the board doesn’t get blinded by pound signs, this team will continue to grow.
It’s a tantalising thought. First, however, they have to get this season out of the way. There isn’t much riding on this game. Tottenham can’t go up and they can’t go down. Leicester are simply after the respectability of a top-10 finish after their recovery under Craig Shakespeare. It means that the pressure’s off. Which means that this could be good fun. There’s no excuse for it to be anything else.
Kick-off: 7.45pm BST.
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