Kane wins it late at The Hawthorns - report and debrief

Harry Kane’s late winner sent us to the top of the Premier League as we edged past West Bromwich Albion in a tight affair at The Hawthorns on Sunday afternoon.

It might only be for a matter of hours before other matches are played, but Kane’s 150th Premier League goal just two minutes from time gave us all three points to move us into top spot.

After a disappointing first half in which we didn’t manage a shot on target, it was a much better display after the interval as we started to create chances, although we always had to be alert at the back as the Baggies had opportunities of their own, Conor Gallagher hitting the post from distance and Darnell Furlong’s glancing header needing a fine save from Hugo Lloris.

As the game entered the final 10 minutes, Toby Alderweireld glanced Heung-Min Son’s 82nd-minute corner straight at goalkeeper Sam Johnstone and a minute later, substitute Carlos Vinicius - on for his Premier League debut - turned and hit a left-foot shot which Johnstone saved at full stretch down to his right.

It was tense and nervy as both sides went for the winner – and with two minutes left, we got it. Matt Doherty picked the ball up wide on the right and delivered a telling cross for Kane, who got the better of Kyle Bartley and, with Johnstone not sure whether to come and collect the cross or not, Kane headed over the goalkeeper and in.

Lads dig deep for big win

We couldn’t really get going in the first half, so the team deserved plenty of credit for their performance after the break as we showed much more attacking prowess. Our only first-half chance came on 13 minutes when Gareth Bale’s ball out of defence found Kane, he moved it on to Tanguy Ndombele who laid into the path of an unmarked Son but he waited before releasing his shot and the home side got enough men back to block.

The hosts had much the better of the rest of the half though, Karlan Grant glancing a header wide when unmarked in the area while Eric Dier provided a telling intervention to prevent Calum Robinson’s cross from reaching Grant at the back post as we went in goalless at the break.

It wasn’t until the 59th minute that we had our first shot on target, Johnstone taking no chances to punch clear Sergio Reguilon’s fierce 30-yard drive and moments later Ndombele found Kane with a clever back-heel but his effort was blocked by Dara O’Shea before Son fired straight at Johnstone.

The chances started to flow for both sides as the game opened up, Reguilon’s shot this time blocked by Bartley on 67 minutes and the rebound fell straight to substitute Giovani Lo Celso but, off balance, he poked wide from 10 yards out.

Gallagher shaved the post with a 25-yard drive before Lloris made a great save to stop Furlong’s glancing header from a corner from going in, while those late chances for Alderwerield and Vinicius almost saw us grab the lead. However, we didn’t have to wait too much longer as Kane once again proved to be the man of the moment to win the match.

More Kane delight against West Brom

Not only did our England striker score his milestone 150th Premier League goal, but Kane also continued his fine goalscoring form against the Baggies. This one was his eighth goal in his eight Premier League appearances against West Brom, one of nine sides he averages a goal-per-game or better against in the competition.

Our unbeaten run now stands at seven in the Premier League, the current longest run in the competition. We’ve won five and drawn two of those since losing to Everton on the opening day.

This victory is only the fourth time in our history we have won our four opening away games in a league campaign, doing so in 1949/50 when winning the second tier, 1960/61 when winning the First Division title and in 2017/18 (finished third).

Jose Mourinho made one change to the team that started our last Premier League match against Brighton as Bale made his first league start since returning to the Club. He replaced Erik Lamela. There were five changes to the team that started against Ludogorets in Europa League action on Thursday night with Lloris, Reguilon, the superb Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Ndombele and Son all back in. Dier started the match – his 250th Spurs appearance.

Reaction on Spurs TV

'With Vinicius, Harry became a little more free'

Jose told Spurs TV after the match: "It was one of those matches with all the ingredients to lose a couple of points - difficult opponents, they want to stop you, they analyse you, they see where you are strong, they try to close every possible door, and they did it. Apart from that, they also had strategy in relation to the time, in relation to the intensity - they tried everything, fought really hard, and the good thing was that we always tried.

"Even being difficult, it was not a game where it had lots of chances, but a game where you start pushing, pushing, pushing and you feel the possible is coming. Then the moment arrived where I felt it’s time to bring Vinicius, to change the structure a little, to give them a different problem than they had until then. With Vinicius, Harry became a little more free and he got that space to score the winning goal."

Match data

Goal: Spurs – Kane 88.

Yellow card: West Brom - Bartley 44.

Referee: Andy Madley.

Venue: The Hawthorns.

Weather: Light rain, light winds, 12 degrees.