Harry Kane proves early-season slump is gone with one of Premier League’s greatest individual displays

Harry Kane produced one of the finest individual performances in recent memory, perhaps in Premier League history, as Tottenham earned their first statement result under Antonio Conte with a dramatic 3-2 win at Manchester City.

Kane scored twice, including a headed winner deep into stoppage time, and made Spurs’ opening goal with one of many sensational pieces of play, on an evening when he shone far brighter than City’s array of glittering talent.

Kane was always likely to the centre of attention given City’s failed attempt to sign him last summer, and how he reminded the champions of what they are missing, as Spurs boosted their top four hopes and blew the title race wide open by completing a remarkable double over Pep Guardiola’s side.

The England captain set the visitors on their way to a huge win with a stunning first-time pass to release Heung-min Son after just four minutes, with the South Korean racing behind Ruben Dias and cooly squaring to Dejan Kulusevski to open the scoring.

City hit back when Ilkay Gundogan capitalised on a Hugo Lloris mistake after 33 minutes and, from there, it was easy to wonder if the runaway league leaders would go on to convert their dominance into a comfortable three points. As Conte had predicted, City controlled the ball, launching wave after wave of attack.

But with Kane in this kind of form, and Son looking sharp again, Spurs were always threatening on the counter-attack and always had a chance – particularly with Conte’s defence transformed by the return of Eric Dier.

Sure enough, Kane restored their lead with a cool finish from Son’s brilliant cross midway through the second half, as the pair became the joint-deadliest pairing in Premier League history, level with Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba on 36 goal combinations.

After being denied one-v-one by City goalkeeper Ederson, Kane was sure he had his second with a smart finish inside the box, only for the VAR to rule it out for a fractional offside against Kulusevski.

The technology played a part in City’s second equaliser, too, when the excellent Cristian Romero was penalised for a handball in the box.

Riyad Mahrez slammed home the penalty in the first of seven minutes of stoppage-time and looked to have rescued City a point and set up a nervous finale for Spurs.

Again, Kane and Spurs had other ideas, the forward rising above Kyle Walker to head home a cross from Kulusevski, who was decisive on his first start for the club.

The goal will transform the mood following a run of three straight league defeats and another week of speculation about Conte’s happiness in the job, and could kickstart Spurs’ stuttering season under the Italian.

Kane was brilliant in Spurs’ last victory before this weekend, the 3-2 win at Leicester, but this performance was on a whole new level, backing up Conte’s recent claim that he thinks the 28-year-old can get even better.

There has been much debate about whether Kane should drop deep or play as a traditional centre-forward, but against the runaway leaders he showed he is both a complete No.9 and No.10, even when Spurs barely have the ball.

Kane is understood to remain undecided on his Spurs future and said to be ’50-50’ on whether to push for a transfer again in the summer.

But he loves playing for Conte, so his future could hinge on whether the Italian head coach is sufficiently backed in the transfer market in the summer.

This performance offered incontrovertible evidence that Kane’s early-season slump is over, and that Spurs should do everything in their power to keep their talisman happy and at the club.

At the same time, it may prompt Pep Guardiola and City, who lacked a cutting edge themselves with Phil Foden again as a false No9, to renew their interest in him at the end of the season.