A Harry Kane wonder-strike from the halfway line proved to be the deciding goal – that earned Tottenham a last-gasp 3-2 victory against Juventus, deep into injury-time during a pre-season friendly match in Singapore last night.

As the minutes ticked by and the 90th minute was approaching, Tottenham had looked as though they would have to settle for a draw in their first game of the pre-season, which was being played out to a massive crowd of 50,433 at the Singapore National Stadium.

Kane’s wonder goal

But when he had been presented with the opportunity, Kane had other ideas, pouncing on a 95th-minute defensive error by Juventus and he tried his luck, firing a shot from the centre circle that sailed past the Juventus keeper Wojciek Szczesny and straight into the goal.

Said the Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino about Kane’s goal, “It was a great goal and incredible for Harry. It was a show of the quality of the player that he is. Harry saw the moment and the goalmouth and he decided to try his luck and shoot and it went in.”

Spurs opened the scoring

Through the game, Tottenham had been on the front foot, with Erik Lamela opening the scoring up in the 31st minute before Juventus’ Gonzalo Higuain then drew the scores level, with the Italians refusing to lay down.

Cristiano Ronaldo bagged a goal

On the hour mark, Cristiano Ronaldo put Juventus ahead and at that point in time, it had looked as though Juve would leave Singapore with the win.

But that was until new Spurs signing Tanguy Ndombele set up Lucas Moura to draw the score level again.

Then as the game was petering out to a close, Kane’s wonder strike put Tottenham ahead, before the referee blew the final whistle, to bring the see-saw game to an end.

Tottenham are happy with their win

Said Pochettino, “We are happy with the performance but we are more happy that all the players finished the match with a good condition to continue training.”

And he also added, “Ndombele is a player who has the capacity to do well but he has only spent a week with us. His performance was more than what I had expected because we had 15 minutes on the clock when he levelled the scores. We do not want to expect too much from him yet because we don’t want to put too much pressure on him. We also don’t know his talents and weaknesses at this stage.”

As well, Pochettino also admitted that the competitiveness of the pre-season fixtures, even though are tough, are good to gauge player fitness heading into the season.

He said, “To be honest, I am not a big fan of playing these sort of games so early because you are competing with big clubs and teams. We like to rest after the season so the players can recharge, but then again, these games are a great opportunity to see where we are at and how our preparations are going.”

He continued, “And of course, when you beat a team like Juve, the mood that we experience is happiness, too.”

Pochettino’s aspirations for the new season

Spurs did well last season in reaching the Champions League final, which they eventually lost to Liverpool, and Pochettino has announced his ambitions to go one step higher this season too.

He said, “We want to go one up and win the Champions League final. We also want to win the league title. It is one thing to have a good run in the Champions League and that is the first step, but to maintain the consistency to win the Premier League is a different thing altogether and we are aiming to push hard to get there.”

Sarri acknowledges Juventus’ shortcomings 

Juventus, on the other hand, despite the last-gasp defeat, are satisfied with their performance heading into the Serie A season but at the same time, they also acknowledged their shortcomings and where they can improve.

Said the Juventus head coach Maurizio Sarri, “It was a difficult match today. Preparation for this match has been difficult. Tottenham were quicker and more rapid but this is natural as they’ve two weeks closer to the start of the season compared to us. So they’re in a more ready position.”

He also added, “We had to improve in the first half. We weren’t pressing high enough. We didn’t do well to defend in attacking positions. We were too far back. We did better in the second half and had a good 20-minute spell where we scored a couple of goals. And for the goals conceded due to balls lost and possession lost, it reflects our need to prepare for the season.”

The new club signings

Sarri also admitted that their new signing Matthijs De Ligt has not fully had the time to gel with the team yet. He explained, “It will take him a little bit longer to integrate with the team as he just started training with us yesterday But we are happy to have him here.”

He is pleased with Juventus’ other new signing, Adrien Rabiot, however. Said the head coach, “Adrien had a good performance today and he brought a lot to the match in midfield.”

How the squad is shaping up

And in terms of how the squad is shaping up for the new season, Sarri admitted that there is still work to do.

Said Sarri, “We also have players injured through the international matches and some need to come back. Currently we are strong in some areas, but will need to improve in others in time for the new season.” 

And he also continued, “So we will have to make some tough choices in the coming weeks and will look into the transfer market, if the need arises. But now, it is not the right time for me to comment about the transfer market just yet.”