Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Portsmouth: Harry Kane one behind Jimmy Greaves’ Spurs record after FA Cup winner

Harry Kane moved within one of Jimmy Greaves’ Tottenham goalscoring record with a trademark finish to earn Spurs a safe FA Cup passage against Portsmouth.
Moments after Emerson Royal’s header hit the post, Kane exchanged passes with Ryan Sessegnon before curling into the far corner from 18 yards.
Kane has now scored 265 Spurs goals, one behind the legendary Greaves.
Oliver Skipp fired over a great chance to add a second goal but the League One visitors had no reply to Kane’s strike.
With Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison and Lucas Moura among a growing Spurs injury list, Antonio Conte was forced to start Kane and Son Heung-min in a strong forward line despite making eight changes overall.
Spurs had scored just one first-half goal in their previous 12 games and never looked like adding to that during a quiet opening 45 minutes in north London, failing to register a single shot on target.
Indeed, Portsmouth, cheered on by a sold-out allocation of more than 8,000 noisy visiting fans, created the first half’s best effort as Reeco Hackett-Fairchild’s acrobatic shot on the turn was pushed wide by Fraser Forster.
However, Spurs stepped things up following the restart and, just after Royal headed Son’s deep cross on to the post, Kane produced the moment of magic that ultimately proved decisive.
More to follow.
Line-ups
Tottenham
Formation 3-4-2-1
- 20Forster
- 25Tanganga
- 6D Sánchez
- 33DaviesBooked at 90mins
- 12Emerson Royal
- 29Sarr
- 4Skipp
- 19R SessegnonSubstituted forSpenceat 77′minutes
- 11GilSubstituted forDevineat 90+2′minutes
- 7Son Heung-min
- 10Kane
Substitutes
- 1Lloris
- 2Doherty
- 5Højbjerg
- 17Romero
- 24Spence
- 34Lenglet
- 42White
- 45Devine
- 55Mundle
Portsmouth
Formation 5-3-2
- 1Griffiths
- 2Swanson
- 28Morrison
- 20Raggett
- 6Ogilvie
- 3Hume
- 8TunnicliffeSubstituted forThompsonat 75′minutesBooked at 77mins
- 16MorrellSubstituted forJacobsat 85′minutes
- 18Hackett-FairchildSubstituted forKoromaat 75′minutes
- 15DaleSubstituted forCurtisat 87′minutes
- 9BishopSubstituted forPigottat 85′minutes
Substitutes
- 10Pigott
- 11Curtis
- 13Freeman
- 21Oluwayemi
- 23Thompson
- 24Jacobs
- 27Koroma
- 35Payce
- 36Dockerill
- Referee:
- Thomas Bramall
- Attendance:
- 60,161
Live Text
-
Match ends, Tottenham Hotspur 1, Portsmouth 0.
-
Second Half ends, Tottenham Hotspur 1, Portsmouth 0.
-
Foul by Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur).
-
Michael Morrison (Portsmouth) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
-
Substitution, Tottenham Hotspur. Alfie Devine replaces Bryan Gil.
-
Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
-
Foul by Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur).
-
Josh Koroma (Portsmouth) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
-
Pape Sarr (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
-
Foul by Michael Jacobs (Portsmouth).
-
Substitution, Portsmouth. Ronan Curtis replaces Owen Dale.
-
Pape Sarr (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
-
Foul by Owen Dale (Portsmouth).
-
Substitution, Portsmouth. Joe Pigott replaces Colby Bishop.
-
Substitution, Portsmouth. Michael Jacobs replaces Joe Morrell.
-
Corner, Tottenham Hotspur. Conceded by Connor Ogilvie.
-
Attempt blocked. Emerson Royal (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Son Heung-Min.
-
Corner, Portsmouth. Conceded by Ben Davies.
-
Attempt missed. Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Japhet Tanganga.
-
Substitution, Tottenham Hotspur. Djed Spence replaces Ryan Sessegnon.