Kane double helps Spurs to UEFA Conference League win

Two goals from Harry Kane and a Giovani Lo Celso free-kick ensured Tottenham overcame Portuguese opponents Pacos de Ferreira and secured their passage to the UEFA Conference League group stage.

As the players were announced for the fixture, the north London crowd waited for one name only. Harry Kane, Tottenham captain for the evening, was announced to loud cheers from the home faithful.

The striker hailed as ‘one of their own’ almost opened the scoring within seconds of kick-off when latching onto a Cristian Romero pass only to power his shot over the bar.

Another new signing, Bryan Gil, was on display at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and drifted inside in the opening minutes to allow space for Ryan Sessegnon to parade down the left.

‘The Beatle from Barbate’ as he’s affectionately known constantly showed for the ball and excited fans on a cool evening in north London. His bright work was complimented with an assist on nine minutes to captain Kane after a fantastic tackle by Harry Winks.

The Tottenham midfielder timed his tackle perfectly to slide in and hook the ball away from the Pacos player before releasing Gil over the top of their high line. The Spanish under-21 international collected the pass and rolled a ball into the area for Kane to control and convert for the opener.

After a disappointing couple of seasons at Tottenham mostly plagued by injury, the sight of Sessegnon back in action would’ve pleased Spurs fans and the former Fulham man twice came close to scoring in the first half, inches away on both occasions from poking home.

Spurs’ biggest acquisition of the summer Romero, who joined the club from Atalanta, felt unfortunate to receive the first booking of the game after being adjudged to have fouled a Pacos player when set to be racing clear on the counter-attack.

Gil continued to impress the crowd and shaved the post with a deflected effort on 33 minutes, before Spurs’ second arrived on 34 minutes again through Kane.

A defensive mistake allowed Giovani Lo Celso the chance to capitalise but his shot was deflected by the defence into the path of Kane, who in similar fashion to his first goal, controlled the ball and slotted his finish into the corner.

Gil continued to be the spark for Spurs as the game entered the second half, a third goal likely to kill the tie and secure Tottenham’s passage into the UEFA Conference League group stages.

Argentine midfielder Lo Celso almost added that third but was only stopped by the legs of Pacos ‘keeper Andre Ferreira after a neat turn and shot. The former Sevilla youngster Gil was undoubtedly the player who impressed most on the night and the 20-year-old almost capped his performance with a goal on 67 minutes, narrowly pulling a shot wide after bursting into the area.

It would be the former PSG and Betis man Lo Celso to net the third, his deflected free-kick evading Ferreira in the Pacos goal.

All 30,215 fans inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium stood to applaud Kane and Gil from the pitch, replaced by Heung-Min Son and Steven Bergwijn for the final 15 minutes.

Dutchman Bergwijn has had a positive start to his third season in Tottenham colours and almost scored a spectacular fourth when twisting his way down the Pacos left before hitting the post.

The post thwarted Son too when set away from the impressive Lo Celso as Nuno Espirito Santo’s men ensured they continued to attack for 90 minutes.

3-0 it would finish to Spurs, a routine victory which sends them into the UEFA Conference League group stages.

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