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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Samuel Meade

Harry Kane breaks Premier League record as Tottenham edge out Wolves - 5 talking points

Harry Kane was again Tottenham 's match-winner as his header earned all three points for the north London side.

Antonio Conte saw his side go top of the table, at least temporarily, as they kept up their unbeaten start to the campaign despite a lacklustre first-half which saw Wolves fail to make their dominance count. Matheus Nunes was bought straight into the starting XI, but couldn't add the necessary potency on his debut.

Conte's half-time pep talk proved to be a game changer and the hosts were a far better outfit in the second-half and began to press with both Kane and Son Heung-min hitting the bar, before the latter headed home the game's winner on what was a record breaking afternoon for the striker.

These are the talking points from a battling Tottenham win.

1 A half-time pasting does the trick

It is not hard to picture what a fuming Conte would look like and Tottenham's players no doubt felt the wrath of the Italian at the interval after a poor first 45 minutes. It seemed inevitable that the north London outfit would come out a different team and they did exactly that.

Without making any personnel changes Conte was able to give his team fresh direction and they looked more direct, more confident and more potent in the second-half. Warning signs were coming as Kane struck the bar and Son hit the post. Credit to Conte that he was able to see what needed changing and convey that to his players, which further proves how vital the man in the dugout is to this Tottenham side going forward.

2 Record breaking Kane

Coming into Saturday's clash and Kane had more history in his sights. He and Sergio Aguero had both scored the same amount of goals for a single club, the Argentine's of course coming on the blue half of Manchester. By 2.30pm though the Englishman had set himself apart from the rest.

His second-half header meaning he now holds that record to himself with Jimmy Greaves' Tottenham goalscoring record now firmly in Kane's sights as he continues to etch himself into history, both at his club and in the Premier League, with Alan Shearer's ultimate record on his agenda.

3 Wolves tiki taka

If it were a game of keep ball then the visitors would've been out of sight by half-time, but ultimately its not. What the first-half did was underlined how impressive the Midlands outfit are at retaining possession and working positions but also how they struggle for that killer pass or any genuine potency.

Bruno Lage started without a recognised striker or a central point of attack. Gonçalo Guedes, a summer arrival, was the man largely leading the Wolves frontline, but he came deep more often than not. Wolves' ability to keep hold of the ball certainly began to frustrate the home crowd, but for all their possession the visitors created very little and were ultimately made to pay.

Raul Jimenez and Hwang Hee-chan came on in the second-half, but the visitors could've used them in the first-half as Lage seeks a balance that offers him an attacking threat against the league's top sides.

4 Are Spurs really the real deal?

For many they were tipped to be best of the rest, Gary Neville even suggested that they could usurp Liverpool if the Reds dropped off this season. Conte's side finished last season well and enjoyed one of their best summer transfer windows for some time.

There was an expectation that, after nearly a year of Conte's tactics, coupled with a pre-season, that the side from north London would hit the ground running. Yet here we are, three games into the campaign, and it's fair to say that for at least half of that Tottenham have been second best.

At Chelsea last week they were lucky to get away with a point and six days on they were forced to watch the ball as Wolves set about dominating from the off in the capital. Tottenham may well have collected seven points and Conte did address their first-half issues - but against more impressive sides the game may well be beyond the north Londoners if they fail to produce across 45 minute periods.

5 All eyes on Nunes

Pep Guardiola described him as “one of the best players in the world”, Liverpool were heavily linked with him yet its Wolves who captured the signature of Nunes, who went straight into the starting XI at Tottenham. He helped his new outfit dominate the opening 45, retaining possession impressively in the final third.

There will no doubt be more to come from the Portuguese star, who was able to get up to speed quickly with the pace of the Premier League - which is not always the case with new arrivals. His influence began to drop off as Tottenham came into the game, but the way in which Nunes slotted in suggests Wolves have a player on their hands.

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