EPL

Kane lauded as 'greatest of all time' by Tottenham stand-in coach Stellini

By Sports Desk February 05, 2023

Harry Kane was lauded as the greatest of all time after his record-breaking strike against Manchester City.

The England captain moved past Jimmy Greaves' Tottenham scoring record with his 267th goal for the London club on Sunday.

His calm 15th-minute finish proved the difference in a 1-0 win over City as Kane joined Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney as the only men to score 200 Premier League goals.

Spurs talisman Kane achieved the feat in two games fewer than Shearer (306), while Rooney needed 462 to hit a double century, and coach Cristian Stellini believes no player compares to the 29-year-old.

"Harry Kane, in his DNA, he has football. He understands football in every moment," Stellini, standing in for Antonio Conte after the Tottenham head coach underwent gallbladder surgery, told Sky Sports.

"He can play in any position. He is the GOAT [greatest of all time] in this league, in this sport. He is a great example."

A narrow victory, in which Cristian Romero saw a late red card for two cautions, moved Spurs within one point of fourth-placed Newcastle United, having played a game more.

Videos emerged after the game of Conte congratulating the record-setting Kane, as Stellini hailed a battling performance in the absence of the Italian.

He added: "It was a tough week and we have to give a great compliment to all the players and the staff.

"It was a tough week because we lost Antonio, hopefully he'll be back next week. He'll be back happy now. I spoke to him on the phone just now and he said congratulations to the team and especially Harry.

"The key was the capacity to suffer when City has the ball. We know when we play against this team we have to suffer because they have the ball a lot, but we moved well in the defensive situation and defended the goal in a brilliant way.

"We knew very well that in that game [the 4-2 defeat to City last month] we lost our key – our capacity to suffer. We lost that last time, we spoke about that situation and that we had to be angry, motivated.

"To reach our target, we have to suffer more, to fight. When you are winning against City, they can play with great pace. You have to be strong and we controlled the space very well."

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    Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.

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    "It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.

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    Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.

    Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.

    "I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.

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    New York City FC – Alonzo Martinez

    Twelve of Alonzo Martinez's 17 goals this season (regular season and playoffs) have been scored in home matches, while Santiago Rodriguez has scored 11 of his 13 goals at home.

    Both players found the net in NYCFC's home win over Cincinnati in Game 2 of their first-round series.

    New York Red Bulls – Emil Forsberg

    Emil Forsberg became the 14th different Red Bulls player to record a goal and an assist in a single playoff match in Game 2 of New York's first-round series against Columbus Crew.

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    MATCH PREDICTION: NEW YORK CITY FC WIN

    This will be the first playoff meeting between New York City FC and the Red Bulls, but the fifth in knockout rounds in all competitions.

    The Red Bulls eliminated NYCFC in each of the previous four knockout round meetings, doing so in the US Open Cup three times and the Leagues Cup once.

    NYCFC has won five of their eight all-time home playoff matches, including the last three in a row. All three teams that defeated NYCFC on the road in the playoffs went on to reach the MLS Cup Final (Toronto FC in 2016 & 2019, Atlanta United in 2018).

    The Red Bulls' 1-0 win at Columbus in Game 1 on October 29 ended a six-match road losing streak in postseason play for the club. The Red Bulls have won multiple road playoff games in a single season twice before, doing so in 2008 and 2017.

    OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

    New York City FC – 46.5%

    Draw – 26.5%

    New York Red Bulls – 27%

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