Kane nets 200th goal as Tottenham wins in Europa League

Harry Kane scored his 200th goal for Tottenham in a 3-1 away victory over Ludogorets in the Europa League on Thursday, while 10-man Benfica came from two goals down to draw 3-3 with Rangers after an equalizer in injury time.

Also, Roma trashed Cluj 5-0 while Spanish league leader Real Sociedad handed AZ Alkmaar its first defeat halfway through the group stage.

AC Milan and Arsenal played later Thursday.

KANE DOUBLE CENTURY

After Tottenham’s 1-0 loss against Royal Antwerp last week, manager Jose Mourinho started Kane for the first time in the competition.

In his 300th appearance, Kane needed just 13th minutes put his team ahead by heading home corner from Lucas Moura.

It was Kane’s first goal in the group stage of Europe’s second tier competition this season after another five in the qualifying.

Kane scored his first Tottenham goal in this competition against Shamrock Rovers in 2011.

Lucas doubled the lead 20 minutes later. Kane collected a pass from Gareth Bale before setting Lucas up with a pass from the right to net from close range.

Kane was substituted at halftime and replaced by Carlos Vinicius.

Claudiu Keșerü pulled one back for Ludogorets in the second before Giovani Lo Celso finished it off.

Tottenham has six points from three games to join Antwerp atop Group J. The Belgian side played LASK later Thursday.

BENFICA STRIKES LATE

With Rangers leading 3-1, Rafa Silva started the comeback for Benfica by pulling one back in the 77th minute before Darwin Nuñez collected a through ball to equalize in stoppage time.

Rangers had not conceded a goal in the competition but went behind after just one minute. Silva broke down the right before cutting back a pass that Connor Goldson deflected into his own net.

Benfica looked in control before center back Nicolás Otamendi received a straight red card in the 19th minute when brought down Ryan Kent, who had only goalkeeper Odisseas Vlachodimos to beat.

Steven Gerrard’s team quickly took advantage.

Rangers equalized five minute later, in similar fashion to the opening goal. James Tavernier crossed from the right and Diogo Gonçalves blasted the ball high into his own goal.

Just a minute later, Glen Kamara put Rangers ahead with a goal from the edge of the area.

Six minutes into the second half, Alfredo Morelos tapped in a precise cross from Tavernier to double the lead.

Lech Poznań earned its first win in the group, 3-1 over Standard Liège.

OTHER GROUPS

Borja Mayoral scored two goals and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Roger Ibañez and Pedro Rodríguez added one each for Roma against Cluj in Group A.

With five players sidelined with the coronavirus, Slavia Prague won 3-2 over Nice for its second straight victory in Group C, Slavia, where Leverkusen also won 4-2 at Hapoel Beer-Sheva.

Granada leads Group E with seven points after a 2-0 away win against 10-man Omonoia. PAOK is two pints back after a 4-1 victory over PSV.

Cristian Portu scored a second-half goal to give Real Sociedad a 1-0 victory over AZ Alkmaar, putting both teams on six points in Group F. Napoli also has six points after coming from a goal down for a 2-1 away win against Rijeka.

Image credits: AP