Juventus vs Tottenham Hotspur. International Champions Cup.
Singapore National Stadium.
Summer signing Tanguy Ndombele made an instant impact on debut setting up Lucas Moura for Spurs' second goal
Sunday 21 July 2019 19:27, UK
Harry Kane scored a stunning stoppage-time goal from the halfway line in as Tottenham started their preparations for the new season with a 3-2 win against Serie A champions Juventus in Singapore.
Mauricio Pochettino's side took the lead in the first-half through Erik Lamela before two goals in four second-half minutes from Gonzalo Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo turned the game on its head in favour of Maurizio Sarri's men.
Spurs' summer signing Tanguy Ndombele made an instant impact after being brought on as a second-half substitute, setting up Lucas Moura for the equaliser before Kane's late stunner from just inside the Juventus half sealed victory for the Premier League side.
There was a strong South Korean contingent at Singapore's National Stadium and they made themselves heard whenever Son Heung-min got on the ball. Excitement rose when he hit the outside of the post after four minutes, while Ronaldo tried an overhead kick in a promising start to the International Champions Cup encounter.
The Portuguese then flashed a fierce shot wide but Spurs were looking brighter and broke the deadlock on the half-hour mark.
Son showed good composure and awareness to lay off to the overlapping Troy Parrott. The 17-year-old saw his powerful low shot brilliantly saved by Gianluigi Buffon, but Lamela was on hand to tuck away the rebound from close range.
Both sides made a variety of changes at half time. Lucas was among the Spurs introductions and saw appeals for what looked like an excellent shout for a penalty waved away shortly after the restart.
Spurs were pushing for a second but Juventus levelled in the 56th minute as former Chelsea striker Gonzalo Higuain hit a low shot past Paulo Gazzaniga.
Kane clipped the post as Pochettino's men looked to immediately regain the lead, only for Ronaldo to pop up at the other end and put Juventus ahead.
Juve introduced Matthijs de Ligt for his first appearance since signing from Ajax as Tottenham brought on their own new recruit Ndombele, and the latter quickly made an impact, threading a pass through for Lucas to smartly direct home for the equaliser.
Minutes later, the France midfielder curled just wide and Federico Bernardeschi stung the palms of Gazzaniga as a penalty shoot-out loomed large.
However, Kane had other ideas, settling the match in stunning style.
Moura won possession and the England captain unleashed a stunning first-time shot from just inside the Juventus half that beat Wojciech Szczesny, sending the crowd wild and securing a 3-2 victory for his side.
"It's probably one of the best goals in my career," Kane said minutes after sealing Spurs' 3-2 win.
"I saw the 'keeper was quite far off his line a few times, so I thought I would take the chance if I had the opportunity. I saw him off his line and fortunately it went in."
"I think it was a great goal," Pochettino said. "It's unbelievable from Harry. I think it is good for him to start the pre-season scoring. It wasn't the priority to win the game, but to compete in our best way and in the end to win is always better than not winning.
"We are happy with the performance but the most important thing is that we are happy that all the players finished in a good condition to train tomorrow and build step by step our fitness.
"This type of situation happens because of the quality of the player to see the position of the 'keeper. Sometimes you try and it's possible to touch the net, and sometimes you try and the goal is out. It's his talent that in that moment the ball arrived and he decided to shoot. It was a little bit lucky that the goal touched the net."
Sky Sports' Oliver Yew: Spurs fans would have been excited at the prospect of seeing their new £65m man in action, and they will not have been left disappointed by his 27-minute cameo in Singapore.
It's very early days but Pochettino will be delighted with what he saw from Tottenham's club-record signing.
Brought on to replace Lamela in the 63rd minute, the French midfielder was straight into the action, showing excellent vision as he executed an inch-perfect pass to set up Lucas Moura for Spurs' equaliser.
Minutes later, the 22-year-old showed he has an eye for goal too, sending a curling effort just wide of the upright from the edge of the penalty area.
Throw in the physicality he showed to help Spurs win possession back deep into the Juventus half late in the game and it looks like Spurs have a player with real potential on their hands.
Pochettino was delighted with Ndombele's start to his Tottenham career but warned against expecting too much too soon from the Frenchman.
"Yes of course I am happy but we cannot expect from him too much. He's only just had the possibility to get to know his team-mates, to adapt himself to the new countries, new culture, new players, new games, new tempo.
"All is new for him, but I think with the first touch of the ball he started to show the quality from him. It was amazing and you can see when he runs something can happen. He has the capacity to add to the team different things and I hope during the season he can help the team achieve all that they want."
Tottenham's remaining pre-season fixtures:
July 25: Manchester United - Hongkou Stadium, Shanghai, China
July 30: Real Madrid (Audi Cup) - Allianz Arena, Munich
July 31: Bayern Munich/Fenerbahce (Audi Cup) - Allianz Arena, Munich
August 4: Inter Milan - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
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