Spurs’ Kane denies diving after Anfield penalty row

Tottenham striker Harry Kane has hit back at Virgil van Dijk’s claim he dived to win a penalty in Sunday’s dramatic 2-2 Premier League draw at Anfield. Liverpool’s record signing said the England international went down too easily under pressure from goalkeeper Loris Karius for the first of two Spurs penalties.“I think it is a dive. You see him (Kane) diving clearly and no one is talking about it but I think it is a dive,” said Van Dijk, who joined Liverpool from Southampton last month for £75 million ($106 million, 85 million euros).Kane’s first spot-kick was saved but he converted a second deep into added time to salvage a point and reach 100 Premier League goals. “He (Karius) has dived, he got in the way and I’m a player. I’m not going to jump out of the way because it’s football,” said Kane, denying Van Dijk’s accusation. “I definitely felt contact and I went down.”Kane, like manager Mauricio Pochettino, praised the officials for having the strength of character to award two controversial penalties at Liverpool’s home ground. Assistant referee Ed Smart flagged for a Van Dijk foul on Erik Lamela for the second penalty award after match official Jon Moss had waved play on. “I thought the linesman showed amazing character to give (the second penalty) because a lot happened for the first one about the linesman so to give that penalty was massive – and it was a penalty,” added Kane.The debate surrounding the first penalty centred on whether Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren had touched the ball on its way through to Kane, who would otherwise have been offside as he clashed with Karius. Kane’s late strike brought up a century of Premier League goals in his 141st match.Only Alan Shearer (124) reached the landmark more quickly and the Tottenham striker now has his sights set on the next 100, with Shearer’s all-time record of 260 still some way off. “That has to be the aim – and hopefully quicker than I got to 100,” said the 24-year-old.”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.”Pochettino hailed Harry s bravery after he shrugged off missing a penalty to net his 100th. “He is one of the best strikers. He can miss a penalty or a chance, but the personality to score 100 Premier League goals is because you have strong character,” said Pochettino. Spurs still trail third-placed Liverpool by two points down in fifth in the race for a place in the top four. They are point behind Chelsea, who were playing Watford late last night.Failure to make the Champions League next season will further fuel speculation as to whether Spurs can retain even a man dubbed “one of our own” by the Tottenham faithful. “Kane is one of the best players in the world, 100 per cent, if not the best pure striker in the world at the moment,” even Klopp admitted before kick-off.However, for all the talent available to Pochettino, Spurs’ challenge remains undermined by their record on the road against their closest challengers. Under Pochettino, Spurs have still won just one of 19 away trips to the rest of the Premier League’s top six at Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea. The Argentine, though, insisted progress is being made after dominating possession at Anfield after falling behind to Mohamed Salah’s third-minute opener. “It was a fantastic performance,” said Pochettino. “Against a team that is so difficult when they are up on the score the control and performance was amazing. The feeling in the dressing room from the team is that we dropped two points.”Spurs had got off to the worst possible start when Salah latched onto a wayward backpass from Eric Dier to coolly slot past Hugo Lloris. The visitors controlled the game after the break but needed a spectacular strike from an unlikely source to get back level when substitute Victor Wanyama smashed into the top corner with his first touch. A frantic final 10 minutes ensued as Kane atoned for his poor first penalty and stayed a step ahead of Salah in their personal rivalry for the golden boot.