Harry Kane has switched his sights towards scoring 200 Premier League goals, and believes he can get there faster than his century for Tottenham Hotspur.
The Spurs striker claimed his 100th top-flight goal with a 95th minute penalty in Sunday's dramatic 2-2 draw against Liverpool. Kane is the second fastest player to reach the milestone, doing so in 141 Premier League goals. Alan Shearer holds the record with 100 goals in 124 matches, while Sergio Agüero in third took 147 games to hit 100.
After accepting applause and a specially commissioned pair of boots from his Tottenham team-mates at Anfield, Kane immediately turned his focus to 200 league goals for his boyhood club. And he is confident his goal-scoring rate will increase over the coming seasons.
Kane said: “200 goals has to be the aim, and hopefully quicker than I got to 100. It is nice, I am going to enjoy the moment, but let’s see how many I can get this year and go from there.
Learning to do
“Hopefully I can get better and better. I am 24 years old, that’s not young but it’s not old, so I’ve still got a lot of learning to do. I feel I am getting more experience year by year, and I feel I am getting stronger and more physical, and hopefully that continues. I will always keep trying to work hard and to get better.”
Newcastle United erected a statue outside at St James' Park in recognition of Shearer's exploits. Kane may not be immortalised at Tottenham yet – "I'm not thinking about a statue, I'm just thinking about what's best for the team," he insisted – but the striker admits he is driven by the challenge of remaining the league's highest goalscorer.
“I’ve said that from the very first time I got put on the scene. That is what separates good players from great players: can you do it consistently year after year? Can you get better and better when people don’t expect you to? That’s what I’ve done so far, and that is what I will continue to strive to do. That is always my mindset – to never let up. It is a short career, and I’ll try to do as much as I can in it.”
Diving
Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk accused Kane of diving for the first of two disputed penalties at Anfield, one that Kane missed, but the England international was adamant he was fouled by goalkeeper Loris Karius.
He explained: “He has dived, he has got in the way and I’m a player, I’m not going to jump out of the way because it’s football. I’ve definitely felt contact and I’ve gone down.
“[ERIK] Lamela’s one I thought the linesman showed amazing character to give that because a lot happened for the first one with the linesman, so to give that penalty was massive and it was a penalty.” – Guardian
