Kane still hopes to move, Alli penalty is winner

LONDON • Harry Kane made his first appearance for Tottenham this season, as manager Nuno Espirito Santo earned a 1-0 English Premier League win against his former club Wolverhampton Wanderers yesterday.

The England captain came off the bench in the second half at Molineux, after the Manchester City transfer target missed the first two games following a late return from his close-season holiday.

The striker, frustrated by Spurs' 13-year trophy drought, is still hoping to force a move to English champions City before the Aug 31 transfer deadline.

The 28-year-old believes he has a gentleman's agreement with club chairman Daniel Levy allowing him to leave this summer.

However, City are so far unwilling to meet the £150 million (S$278.4 million) asking price for last season's Premier League top scorer.

Kane was left out of the squad when they beat Pep Guardiola's side in their league opener last weekend and also missed last Thursday's Europa Conference League first-leg defeat at Portugal's Pacos de Ferreira over a lack of fitness.

But although Nuno was far from Spurs' first choice - negotiations with former Inter Milan coach Antonio Conte and ex-Roma boss Paulo Fonseca both broke down - the Portuguese has made a strong start with successive league victories - without relying on Kane's goals.

The visitors were already leading through Dele Alli's ninth-minute penalty by the time their star man arrived on the scene.

The England midfielder was fouled by Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa and he picked himself up to convert the spot kick.

It was Alli's first league goal since March last year as he returns to favour following a long spell in exile under Nuno's predecessor Jose Mourinho.

Kane replaced Son Heung-min with 19 minutes left and received a largely positive reception from the travelling fans, who sang "Harry Kane, he's one of our own", while the Wolves supporters mockingly chanted "He'll be a Manc in the morning".

Kane had a golden opportunity to mark his return with a goal and put the game to bed when Steven Bergwijn picked him out, but his shot was repelled by Sa.

Despite his miss and a late booking for time-wasting, it was a winning return to Wolves for Nuno, who was back for the first time since leaving in the close-season after four years in charge.

Alli, who missed out on selection for England's Euro 2020 squad due to a lack of playing time under Mourinho, later claimed he was now being played in a position that suits him best.

"My game has been a little deeper this season, allows me to get in the box later, which is what I like to do. I'm happy to get the goal and help the team," he said. "It wasn't a perfect performance but a lot of positives."

While it is early days, Nuno also feels the work he is doing on the training pitch is beginning to rub off on the players, with Spurs putting in a solid shift.

"Relentless, compact, solid, a unit - everybody helping each other because it was tough from minute one, but we defended very well. In terms of attitude, I am very proud," he said.

"When you are not able to do a lot of things, you do what you have to do, take what we came here for. We had two tough matches, very demanding opponents, so we are growing and have a lot of things to improve and work on."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE