TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM, LONDON — Harry Kane has spoken of his pride at overtaking Manchester United icon Wayne Rooney in the Premier League's all-time goalscoring rankings.
For the 26th time in the league this season, Kane struck for Tottenham Hotspur during Saturday afternoon's victory over Crystal Palace. Spurs produced a first victory since the dismissal of Antonio Conte, but it was far from plain sailing, yet again needing Kane to bail them out.
The England centre-forward rose on the stroke of half-time to meet a cross from Pedro Porro, heading past Sam Johnstone for the only goal of the game. The two points won take the total Tottenham have earned through Kane's goals to 24 this season, underlining his importance to Spurs again ahead of a crucial summer transfer window.
It also marked the sixth time Kane has netted the only goal of a game this term, deciding matches against Brighton & Hove Albion, Manchester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham in the league, plus Portsmouth in the FA Cup.
The winner against Palace took his career total to 209 in the Premier League, meaning he overtakes Rooney – and in 102 games fewer. He also notably took former international teammate Rooney's record as the Three Lions' all-time top scorer last year.
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Now, ahead of a huge dilemma this summer over whether to leave a Spurs side in relative turmoil or cement his legendary status in North London, Kane sits just 51 goals behind Alan Shearer's chart-topping tally of 260.
Reflecting on climbing the penultimate rung on the ladder, Kane said: "Amazing. Wayne’s one of the best players the Premier League has ever seen, and one of the best this country has ever seen. To go ahead of him is something I’m extremely proud of. I’m just looking forward to scoring more goals."
Kane broke a single-season Premier League record on Saturday, too, with a total of 10 headed goals. That beats the previous high of nine, by Everton's Duncan Ferguson in 1997/98.
The Spurs skipper insists it's an area of his play he has worked on: "Every season I try to improve, to find different ways of scoring goals," he said. "This year, headed goals have been a big part of my game, so it was nice. It was a great delivery from Pedro today, so it was nice to get on the end of it and time it well."
Though the Champions League qualification spots have gone at this point, Spurs are still firmly in the battle for Europa League action in 2023/24. They currently sit sixth, leading Brighton by two points but with the Seagulls carrying three games in hand. Aston Villa are just three points off Spurs ahead of the two sides meeting at Villa Park on May 13.
On that race, Kane concluded: "We’ve got three games left — a big game against Villa next week away. Them dropping points today has helped a little bit. We just have to try and win all three games.
"Brighton have games in hand ahead of us. If we can come away from this season with European football, it’s a little prize at the end of a tough season, so we’ll be fighting for that."