Harry Kane Rescues Tottenham as Heavy Schedule Takes Its Toll Against West Ham

WHITE HART LANE, LONDON — You have probably heard of Harry Kane. If the Tottenham Hotspur striker continues at this rate, it will not be long before everyone in England has.

After the striker's stoppage-time equaliser in their 2-2 draw with West Ham United, do not be surprised if the north London club announce a summer 2015 tour of the United States soon. The brightest new football star in the Premier League will surely want to break America next.

Lefteris Pitarakis/Associated Press

Excuse the hyperbole, but Kane's feats this season continue to astound with their frequency and timing. Two weeks after he fired Spurs to victory in the north London derby (and almost two months since helping to beat Chelsea), the 21-year-old's 24th goal of his name-making season silenced the supporters of another capital rival.

Make no mistake: The West Ham faithful who invaded the left-hand side of Park Lane made plenty of noise. Diafra Sakho and Cheikhou Kouyate had given their team a 2-0 lead, and they mercilessly teased the home crowd with a win in their sights.

The high-profile Kane was the subject of one distasteful and one discrediting song (the latter relating to the player's reported Arsenal past). For a split second following his stoppage-time penalty miss, he looked set to be singled out again. Instead, he rebounded Adrian's save to confirm a 2-2 draw after Danny Rose's earlier goal had initiated the comeback, prompting responses such as the following from former Lilywhites striker Gary Lineker:

In his post-match press conference, Hammers boss Sam Allardyce rued the galvanising effect of the left-back's fortunate strike against the ground and over his goalkeeper. He was also disappointed with Alex Song's part in the late spot-kick, awarded when the minimum five minutes of stoppage time had been played.

"From our point of view, Alex has to keep his hands off him, because he is gonna feel that contact and take to the floor. He has got to.

"When you're losing at that stage of the game and you know you're not going to score because [Kane's] kicked it too far you're going to take the chance, and the referee gives him the opportunity to take the penalty. He wasn't good enough to score that but lucky enough to get the rebound."

Allardyce does Kane's work in winning the penalty a disservice. The contact from Song was forced by the Spurs man turning so positively into the area.

Clive Mason/Getty Images

Indeed, Kane was at the heart of a final 20 minutes that saw Spurs finally come to life. He dropped into the hole behind substitute Roberto Soldado and took a lead role in an attack that found some direction with the half-time introduction of Christian Eriksen.

The playmaker and Nacer Chadli probed, and Erik Lamela consistently tried to provide an option inside with full-backs Rose and Kyle Walker supporting out wide. However, even though not everything came off, it was Kane's powerful runs into the box (he also had a goal disallowed) and attempts to create something that looked most likely to rescue Spurs. Chief sportswriter at The Telegraph Paul Hayward was highly impressed with his passing:

Up until the final period of the game, Spurs had been timid and appeared somewhat lethargic. How big an impact Thursday's Europa League draw with Fiorentina had on their work rate is up for debate. The energy they showed late on—second-half comebacks have have become a Tottenham trademark these days (see below)—suggests it was not so nullifying.

Given head coach Mauricio Pochettino made six changes, the European match certainly influenced their overall approach. With a return leg against the Serie A club on Thursday and the Capital One Cup final with Chelsea following on Sunday, the schedule is taking its toll in the respect that trying to keep players fresh is partly trumping consistency in the team.

West Ham took advantage of the disconnect within the Spurs team at both ends.

Lefteris Pitarakis/Associated Press

Both Sakho and Kouyate's goals capitalised on less-than-organised defending from the north Londoners. Further back, the Senegalese, Mark Noble and Song, gleefully broke up a Spurs attacking midfield that looked discombobulated and slightly intimidated by the Hammers' protecting players.

Save for a spell of early pressure, which included Kane going close to scoring, Spurs were second-best most of the afternoon.

"It was difficult to play," Pochettino said. "They score and the team was a little bit nervous in how we managed the ball. It was difficult to find the way to play to arrive to the opening goal."

The general praise the Argentinian offered his team's performance shortly afterward was more flattering than the reality warranted (we will assume it was part of his public front rather than his actual opinion). But his post-match praising of their character in continuing the fight was deserved.

"I think that we are always confident because we trust in our players and never give up," he said. "This is important that we showed character today—big personality and big character, good energy in the last 20 minutes—this is important because we needed the point."

Tottenham's hopes of finishing in the Premier League top four have been hindered by these dropped points. How they respond to the challenge of getting up for another two games in short succession in this crowded run will become apparent soon enough.

Still, a point off top-half West Ham is not to be sniffed at these days. They have Kane to thank for it, and it is highly likely the phenomenon of the 2014-15 season will have a large say in any further positive results to come.

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

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