Tottenham have lodged an appeal concerning Christian Eriksen’s second goal against Stoke City on Saturday after Harry Kane insisted he provided the final touch.
Eriksen was officially awarded both goals as Spurs beat struggling Stoke 2-1 at the bet365 Stadium.
His first goal was anything but controversial – the Dane struck the ball into the bottom corner after some patient build-up play from Dele Alli.
Mame Biram Diouf took advantage of a Hugo Lloris mistake to equalise for the hosts before Spurs restored their advantage midway through the second half.
Eriksen’s free-kick appeared to go all the way in, but Kane was and still is adamant the ball brushed off his should before hitting the back of the net.
“I swear on my daughter’s life that I touched the ball! But there’s nothing I can do,” Kane said after the game.
“If they turn it around, they turn it around. If they take my word, they take my word. It is what it is, but the most important thing is that we won the game.”
The striker remains five goals behind the Premier League’s top goalscorer Mohamed Salah, but the gap could be closed to four if Tottenham’s appeal is accepted.
Inevitably, the appeal has left some fans wondering why the club is so concerned with Kane being awarded the goal.
The 24-year-old is chasing a third successive Golden Boot, and every goal clearly matters to him while he is still trailing Salah.
Kane perhaps has a bigger ego than it appears on the surface. He is driven by the opportunity to score more goals than anyone else and break records on a more regular basis.
The appeal proves his employers are behind him in that regard, such is his value to Spurs.
The ball would obviously had gone in even if no-one touched it. If it had touched a defender on the way in, the goal would still have been given to Eriksen. On the same basis, even if it had brushed Kane’s shoulder it wouldn’t have been him that made it go in. It should be Eriksen’s goal.
If Kane got the final touch, even if accidental, it’s Kane’s goal. It doesn’t work the same way it would if a goal bound effort deflected off a defender.
Take the Fulham vs Leeds game recently. Mitrovic had a goal bound headed effort go in off his team mate McDonald’s backside (which he knew nothing about as he was facing the other direction and was completely unintentional) yet the goal went down as McDonald’s.
Kane at least intended to get contact on the ball so, even if he got just the faintest of touches off his shoulder/arm (which it does appear to do), then it should stand as his goal.
Disappointed that the headline was misleading. thought you knew the answer. I didn’t see this appeal as being instigated by Kane. If I had a player who was pushing for a record , I’d appeal on his behalf. Why wouldn’t they ? The big ting is that they won, but backing up the striker who scored it makes sense. I’m sure Ericksen is okay with an assist.
This is the type of thing that could make Eriksen wonder how much Spurs value him. With Barcelona reported to be interested shouldn’t we show Eriksen that he is valued. In my book it was definitely his goal. I know Kane wants the golden boot again, but surely he doesn’t need to pinch other peoples goals. I thought he was better than that. With or without his claimed brush, the shot would have gone in. Eriksen’s goal.
Rather than just goals he’s scoring, Harry Kane should count his blessings that he’s got an outstanding talent and game-changer like goalscorer Christian Eriksen alongside him in the team. And not forgetting the other hotshot goalscorers and providers of ‘assists’ playing in the same team at Spurs. It’s team efforts and team spirit that make the scoring of goals possible.
I think it’s time for Eriksen to leave the club, clearly Tottenham doesn’t value him as a player nor as a person. The club is has become a PR club that is hunting one man trophies. Building a trophy winning team requiers a strong team spirit, clearly a subject that is unknown for the club.