Nicosia: Mauricio Pochettino praised Harry Kane after the English striker scored a perfect hat-trick for Tottenham Hotspur to give them a 3-0 victory at APOEL Nicosia in their second Champions League match in Group H.
After scoring twice in the opening group stage win over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley, Kane added to his European tally with three goals in Cyprus using both feet and his head.
“He has unbelievable skills in front of goal. He is on another level. He is a killer, Harry has this special skill,” Pochettino said.
Spurs’ next opponents in the competition are Real Madrid, who also have maximum points and the same goal difference in the group following two victories.
When asked whether Kane is on the same level as four-times Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo, the Argentine coach did not give a straight answer but did laud the Englishman as one of the best.
“He scored three goals, he is one of the best, he is unbelievable,” he said after Kane reached 34 goals for his club during the calendar year, three more than the Portuguese.
But Pochettino would not be drawn on whether he would swap Real Madrid’s mercurial number seven for 24-year-old Kane.
“Cristiano is fantastic and one of the best. Harry is one of the best and can improve because he is so young. Both are fantastic, they are the types of players you want in your team.”
A Harry Kane hat-trick saw Spurs notch their second win in as many games in Group H of the Champions League, beating Cypriot champions APOEL Nicosia 3-0 in Cyprus on Tuesday.
With the Premier League side missing the creative spark of both Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli, it was down to the English striker to pick up the slack, and despite a spirited effort from the home side, Spurs ran out easy winners.
APOEL started shakily and could have been behind on more than one occasion, Heung-Min Son missing the best chance for Spurs when he headed over unmarked from five yards out.
The Cypriots slowly grew into the game, striking the bar and coming inches from opening the scoring themselves, following a calamitous clearance from Tottenham goakeeper Hugo Lloris just after the half-hour mark.
But it was Spurs who went ahead in the 38th minute when Kane finished coolly after he was left unmarked, 18 yards out. He was expertly found by Toby Alderweireld, placing the ball past the on-rushing Boy Waterman, despite appeals for offside from the home side.
Lloris was forced into his first meaningful save in the 47th minute when he was equal to Hungarian forward Roland Sallai’s volley from just inside the penalty area.
The French number one was tested again shortly after, this time by the lively Stathis Aloneftis, who was put through by Nuno Morais down the left. His high shot was tipped over by Lloris.
Spurs doubled their lead and Kane got his second in the 62nd minute when Moussa Sissoko found the forward on the edge of the box and the Englishman made no mistake with his right foot.
Kane completed his ‘perfect’ hat-trick five minutes later by heading in a Kieran Trippier cross from the right to seal the win for Spurs.
Tottenham now have six points, along with Real Madrid who beat Borussia Dortmund 3-1 in Germany. Both APOEL and Dortmund remain without any points.
