England captain and Spurs ace striker Harry Kane looked downcast as he applauded supporters after the 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa.<\/p>\n
Kane, together with a handful of Tottenham\u00a0players, stayed on the pitch to clap the fans after the disappointing loss to Aston Villa on Wednesday night in front of 10,000 home supporters as their hopes of securing European football took a whack.<\/p>\n
Ryan Mason\u2019s boys started the brighter of the teams and surged into the lead when Steven Bergwijn capitalized on a mistake from Marvelous Nakamba to ram a stinging shot into the top corner after just eight minutes of play.<\/p>\n
But that was as good as it could get for Mason\u2019s side, who struggled to find their rhythm as Villa dominated the match and were level after 20 minutes when Sergio Reguilon somehow managed to slice Nakamba\u2019s hopeful cross past Hugo Lloris to score a disastrous own goal.<\/p>\n
And after Villa chunked a few good openings, Reguilon once again gifted them what turned out to be the eventual winner. The Spurs left-back failed to clear the ball on two occasions, with his charged-down pass dropping to Ollie Watkins, who pressed well to beat Lloris at his near post from close range.<\/p>\n
Spurs were unceremoniously heckled and booed off at half-time by their own fans, who had returned to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first time in 14 months following the easing of coronavirus lockdown.<\/p>\n
After the break the situation did not pick up for Spurs despite Villa actually spurning further opportunities to play safe while Kane was quiet up the other end.<\/p>\n
Defeat saw Tottenham remain on 59 points, level with Everton, who beat Wolves 1-0, ahead of their final match of the season against Leicester on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Spurs fans were understandably frustrated throughout the match, with Kane, Son Heung-min, Dele Alli and substitute Gareth Bale unable to scramble an equaliser.<\/p>\n
As well as making their feelings known about the performance, supporters sang the popular \u201che’s one of our own\u201d chant for Kane, which carried greater meaning amid rumors linking their star player with a move away from the club.<\/p>\n
Kane has reportedly told chairman Daniel Levy he wants to leave this summer, with Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea all said to be interested.<\/p>\n
One young family held a placard which said: \u201cHarry & Dele, My favourite players, Please Don\u2019t Ever Leave Spurs\u201d, while another supporter\u2019s read: \u201cHarry Kane. Tottenham Legend.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the final whistle – when Spurs were booed once again – Kane, Bale, Lloris, Son, Alli, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Toby Alderwerield stayed on the pitch, walking around to applaud their fans in every stand for the first time since March 2020.<\/p>\n
Having suffered a disappointing defeat – their 12th in 37 league games – Kane looked downbeat, leaving some to wonder whether this might be the last time they see the 27-year-old striker play for the club in the flesh.<\/p>\n
He is contracted to Spurs for another three years and is yet to hand in a formal transfer request, but if the club receive an offer in excess of \u00a3100million, then it will surely test Levy\u2019s resolve.<\/p>\n
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