Kane ends August hoodoo as Spurs win again
Harry Kane broke his August Premier League hoodoo and Kieran Trippier netted a fine free-kick as Tottenham Hotspur defeated Fulham 3-1 at Wembley in the Premier League.
Fulham's last outing on this ground — the EFL Championship play-off final in May — ended in promotion back to the top flight and it looked set for another productive afternoon as Aleksandar Mitrovic cancelled out Lucas Moura's fine opener, the Brazilian's first Premier League goal.
But Trippier, who was the scorer of a sublime set-piece in England's FIFA World Cup semi-final defeat to Croatia, repeated the feat with 16 minutes remaining to get Spurs back in front.
Much had been made of Kane's previous failure to score a Premier League goal in the opening month of the season but the striker broke that curse with a precise finish to wrap up the points for Mauricio Pochettino's men.
Lucas's moment of quality was a far cry from his opening contributions as he headed wide of an empty net from six yards before his control let him down when clean through having intercepted a poor pass from Calum Chambers.
Hugo Lloris was not reduced to a mere spectator, denying Tom Cairney and Ryan Sessegnon but two minutes before the break, Chambers's weak clearance fell to Lucas, who curled a first-time strike in off the left-hand post from 18 yards.
Mitrovic struck the post early in the second period but enjoyed greater fortune soon afterwards, nodding home Sessegnon's lay-off from a seated position having thrown himself at Joe Bryan's delivery.
The Serbian shanked wide when presented with an excellent chance to take the lead, and Kane's August hoodoo looked set to continue when he volleyed Eric Dier's cross against the bar.
Trippier's magnificent free-kick, dispatched over the wall into the left corner, restored the lead before Kane did get his goal with a side-footed effort inside the right-hand upright.
Spurs, which have with maximum points from two matches, face a trip to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United a week on Tuesday (AEST).
By contrast, Fulham is yet to get off the mark on its return to the Premier League and Slavisa Jokanovic's side hosts Burnley next weekend, three days after the Clarets travel to Olympiacos for a UEFA Europa League play-off tie.
