Tottenham vs Juventus result: Cristiano Ronaldo scores as Harry Kane secures win with stunning goal
Harry Kane scored a stunning goal from inside the centre-circle in added time to seal a deserved Tottenham Hotspur win against Juventus in a thrilling International Champions Cup pre-season game.
With the dramatic match drawing to its conclusion, Kane showed great awareness to catch former Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny off guard with an audacious effort from range and wrapped up the victory in some style.
Tanguy Ndombele quickly impressed and wasted little time in proving his worth to Spurs during their pre-season match as he provided Lucas Moura with an assist with his very first touch.
Tottenham took a deserved lead into the break, Erik Lamela scoring from close-range after Gianluigi Buffon parried a shot to him, but quickly found themselves behind after the restart.
Gonzalo Higuian got Juventus back on level terms and three minutes later Cristiano Ronaldo put them ahead in Maurizio Sarri’s first match as manager after joining the Italian side from Chelsea.
Then came Ndombele, who slipped Lucas through on goal with a brilliantly timed pass and he pulled Spurs back into the game before Kane completed the comeback.
Matthijs de Light, who completed a eagerly-awaited £67.5m move from Ajax to the Italian Champions last week, came on in the second half, but there was no appearance from wantaway Spurs midfielder Christain Eriksen.
Here's five things we learned
1. Lack of recent transfers has helped Tottenham
A lot has been said about Tottenham’s failure to sign any players in the two previous transfer windows. The lack of additions was seen as a negative move, despite the club finishing in the top four and reaching the Champions League final.
However, there may be some indirect good to come as a result of the break from spending. Against Juventus there was so much for Pochettino to be happy with from the young players out there.
Kyle Walker-Peters barely put a foot wrong against Ronaldo. Anthony Georgiou, Troy Parrott, 17, and Oliver Skipp, 18, did not look out of place against a full-strength Juventus side. Had Spurs spent money on players, perhaps not first team additions but guys that are going to add depth to the squad, then last season these youngsters may not have seen a huge amount of action or first-team training, instead being demoted to the Under-23 squad. The benefits of the young players across the board having a greater involvement with the first-team has clearly made a difference.
2. Son set to shine again
Son’s 12 goals in the league last season during some important games saved Spurs when Harry Kane was sidelined with injury.
Last year was perhaps his best and most important season for Tottenham, and he once again looked very bright in this friendly, with everything good often coming through him.
Harry Winks also had a very impressive game, showing brilliant energy in the middle and setting the tone for Spurs’ brilliant pressing.
3. Ronaldo shows no sign of slowing down
At 34, there is no sign that Ronaldo is slowing down. After another record-breaking season showed that the move to Italy has not phased him.
Against Tottenham he almost got his side off to a brilliant start, but was slightly hesitant when presented with a great chance in the area and allowed Toby Alderweireld to make a last-ditch block.
He quickly made up for earlier missed with a goal coming from a low finish on the end of a well-timed run to briefly put Juventus into the lead. He was enjoying a relatively free role and drifted around to exploit what space he could find.
4. Ndombele quickly proves worth
It took Ndombele little more than 60 seconds to make a huge impact on the game and his very first touch of the ball was a brilliant angled pass straight to Lucas, who had a simple finish inside the box.
The Frenchman then went close to adding a goal of his own with a curling effort that bounced just wide.
Spurs shattered their club-record transfer spend with the £55m acquisition, but the French midfielder looks great value for that outlay and could propel the club to great things this season.
5. Sarri has work to do
It’s easy to forget that this was Sarri’s first match as Juventus manager, and you feel he already has a lot to work on.
Juventus were very keen to play out from the back, but the midfield line was positioned so close to the defence that it made it very straightforward for Spurs to press and win the ball back in dangerous areas.
They pulled it back in the second half, but they never really wrestled control off of Spurs during the game.