In the 87th minute of Tottenham’s Europa League victory vs. Greek squad Asteras Tripoli, goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was sent off with a red card due to his aggressive move on Anastasios Tsokanis when the forward broke free inside the box.
In the quality goaltender’s place stepped young forward Harry Kane, who had already scored a hat trick to help boost the scoreline to 5-1. His first goal arrived in the 13th minute when he smacked a low try from deep that sped into the back of the net.
“It was a sweet strike,” he said of his first score when talking with ITV after the match. “I knew it had a chance when I hit it and fortunately it went in off the post, which is always nice. It was obviously good to get the second and the third as well as we want to start killing off teams. Sniffing in and around the six-yard box is where it all counts too.”
Unfortunately for the under-qualified Kane, he let up the only goal of the night in the 89th minute when Jeronimo Barrales hit the free kick, ending hopes of a five-goal shutout, but capturing this victory was consolation for his miscue.
“It was a great night until I went in goal,” he laughed. “It wasn’t the best effort and I’ll leave that to the keepers from now on. I actually quite fancied myself in goal but when I saw that free kick wobbling at me I wasn’t too happy.
“It was a shame to let it in but overall it was a good game - it was a great result for us, a great win and I’m happy to get a hat trick.”
This win puts Tottenham above Besiktas in Group C’s first place, while Asteras Tripoli and FK Partizan occupy third and fourth place, having accumulated four points and one point respectively.