Harry Kane's best Tottenham performance of the season still ends in disappointment against rivals Arsenal

Hurrikane: Arsenal could not always contain the Spurs striker, but Kane couldn't find the net
Tom Dulat/Getty Images
John Dillon23 September 2015

This was Harry Kane’s best night of the season in a Tottenham shirt. And, conversely, his worst as well.

How frustrating must it have felt for the Spurs striker to endure another barren evening while Mathieu Flamini turned up more or less out of nowhere to score both goals which maintained Arsenal’s supremacy in north London.

While Flamini hit what must surely rank as one of the most impressive volleyed strikes of his career to seal the 2-1 victory, Kane hit only an advertising display by the side of the White Hart Lane pitch.

He was sent clattering there by a challenge from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and for a few anxious seconds, it looked like he might be badly hurt.

But here’s the thing. Kane, who is a big, strong, no-nonsense sort of guy, climbed to his feet, dusted himself down and trotted away without a murmur of complaint, ready instantly for the next round of what was a compelling cup tie battle at an electrified White Hart Lane.

Imagine that kind of thing happening in a match between Arsenal and Chelsea?

Here, in the white heat of a vigorously contested Clasico of the Seven Sisters Road, Kane offered a striking contrast to the antics performed the previous Saturday by Chelsea’s Diego Costa against the Gunners at Stamford Bridge – which have earned him a three-match ban.

The point is not summoned up here to draw any sort of comparison in the playing style and achievements of Kane and Costa.

Tom Dulat/Getty Images

Instead, it is made to underline the fact that with such an attitude, Kane will surely battle his way out of his current drought. And also to underline how a fine, energetic, fiercely contested cup tie was played out by the capital’s two most fierce rival sides - without any of the bitterness and rancour which now infects every collision of Arsenal and Chelsea.

That was the case on the pitch, anyway. What a shame that the visiting supporters had to darken the mood by ripping down some of the official hoardings decorating the section of the Park Lane stand where they were housed after the game.

Among the more sensible Arsenal followers, there may have been some wondering what this really meant for Arsene Wenger’s team?

Any victory over Spurs is sweet. The manner of its achievement – with two goals unexpectedly scored by a player making his first appearance of the season made their glee at grabbing the bragging rights all the more enjoyable.

REPORT: FLAMINI THE UNLIKELY HERO IN GUNNERS WIN
Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Arsenal had done well, too, to withstand the onslaught aimed at them as Spurs poured forward in the second-half, with Calum Chambers unfortunate own goal delivering what the Tottenham forwards couldn’t.

But despite the fact that truly emphatic conclusions are impossible on nights like this – Arsenal made 10 changes and Spurs made eight – there was still that sense that these are the kind of wins which can sometimes make Wenger’s club feel a little too good about itself.

At present, Arsenal are entitled to bigger ambitions than Spurs. But so often, victories like this prove to be illusory when it comes to taking the same beliefs into matches like..... well, like the one at Chelsea last weekend, where they lost 2-0.

During that Spurs onslaught, Kane had created his best opportunity of the season so far when he stretched to aim in a scissors kick which had to be blocked on the line by Kieran Gibbs in the 65th minute.

It must offer a glimmer of hope. He had a goal disallowed too.

Before-half time, though, there had been three instances which captured graphically how anxious life can be for a striker who simply cannot do the job he was put on earth for.

This place still offers one of London’s best atmospheres under the light – naturally enough, more so on an evening like this.

BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images

So when three opportunities came Kane’s way in that spell just before the break, the febrile sense of anticipation among the home supporters was noisily and instantly tangible.

It just makes things worse for strikers during their barren spells, though. First of all, when Townsend’s cross from the left passed over the Arsenal defence and fell towards Kane, he was on the other side of the box and not really in an ideal position to find the target.

A surge of expectation arose from the home crowd, nevertheless.

A minute later, Kane required two touches when he attempted to control a chance on the edge of the area. The same noise went up, but the moment passed harmlessly.

Opportunity number three created even more sound in the stands as Kane raced away after Christian Eriksen’s long, threaded pass. No deal again.

Kane’s spirit looks undimmed, however. Its natural enough, too, that there will be times of struggle for him.

It happens to the best forwards.

Physically, mentally, spiritually, though, he still looks to have too much to offer for it to become a long–term problem.

This time, though, Flamini showed him how to finish. Twice. Sometimes, English football surprsises even itself.

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