Tottenham Hotspur’s upset win over Manchester City in UEFA Champions League competition tonight came with a hefty price. Spurs will take a 1-0 advantage into Manchester for the road leg of the quarterfinal tie next week, but they won’t have their talisman Harry Kane available.
Kane twisted his ankle when challenging a Fabian Delph clearance on Tuesday night, and the collision resulted in his having to limp off the pitch. The Englishman struggled to put weight on the ankle, and he was seen leaving the stadium on crutches.
“It’s very, very sad. It’s going to be tough and we’re going to miss him — maybe for the rest of the season,” Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino said after the game.
“It is a worry for us. We hope it is not a big issue. But there is not too much time to recover. He twisted his ankle so we will see how it reacts,” Pochettino said.
In a January 15 loss to Manchester United, Kane suffered ligament damage in the very same ankle and then missed the next six weeks of competition. Spurs played surprisingly well when he was gone, but then (even more surprisingly) slumped shortly after his return. Despite that recent pattern, the idea of losing Harry Kane for the rest of the campaign would be severely damaging to their UCL and Premier League top four hopes.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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