Spurs' Kane spanks Gunners

TOTTENHAM 2

(Harry Kane 56, 86)

ARSENAL 1

(Mesut Oezil 11)

Tottenham Hotspur have a local hero. England have a new striker and the Premier League has a genuine, invigorating, captivating superstar.

Harry Kane is shaping up to be a colossus at the age of 21.

The local boy made good has suddenly been made glorious. The dreams of childhood became reality last night in an exhilarating north London derby.

His double destroyed Arsenal. He defeated the lifelong enemy. He reached for the stars and went inter-stellar.

Hyperbole is lazy, hackneyed and trite. But in this case, believe the hype.

Believe in Harry Kane. The Spurs faithful certainly do. He's one of their own. Sooner rather than later, he'll be one of England's own. Roy Hodgson's chosen one.

The England manager witnessed the light that should guide his Lions towards Euro 2016. He illuminated one of the best north London derbies in years.

Kane's unadulterated joy infected the stadium. White Hart Lane erupted after his first goal and exploded after the second.

With four minutes left to play, a draw beckoned. Tempers were fraying, nerves jangling and limbs most certainly aching.

But Kane kept going. He defied fatigue to conjure a winner borrowed from the dusty scoring textbook of Alan Shearer.

Christian Eriksen's deep cross drifted towards the penalty spot.

Laurent Koscielny had Kane covered, until the Englishman leapt like a nosy meerkat and stepped towards heaven.

He lost Koscielny and almost lost his head in the clouds. But he kept his composure, the coolest man inside White Hart Lane, in every sense, to send a towering, looping, exquisite header up and over the wrong-footed David Ospina.

Cue bedlam, spectacular, unremitting bedlam.

Kane's performance summed up his season. He doesn't quit. He refuses to retreat. He keeps moving forward. He pushed Spurs past Arsenal and into the top four.

His 22 goals in all competitions make Tottenham fans believe that Champions League qualification is possible.

His 22 goals should make England supporters believe that Euro 2016 glory is possible.

Kane presents no obvious weakness. He scores from every conceivable angle with every part of his body. He combines pace with phenomenal power to scare people. He truly terrifies.

He comes armed only with a pair of boots. He might as well come with a ski-mask and a shotgun. He pick-pockets defenders for fun. He robs people for a living.

And he had the last laugh at the expense of Arsenal's joker.

Arsene Wenger assumed he had pulled an ace from the pack, fooling Mauricio Pochettino with his unlikely selections.

Never mind the smart money, all money was on Theo Walcott starting on the right side of an attacking trio alongside Santi Cazorla and Mesut Oezil.

FINE FORM

The England winger's form and attacking impetus were ideally suited, particularly at White Hart Lane. Walcott went off on a stretcher against Spurs last season. He had a point to prove.

But Wenger has no time for sentiment or even his principled philosophy these days. He's pulled back on the finesse and shovelled in the grit.

Danny Welbeck got the nod over Walcott, a decision that fooled everyone, none more so than Danny Rose.

The left back was flayed alive by Welbeck's afterburners after just 11 minutes. Playing on the right wing, Welbeck roasted Rose.

The Arsenal man's cutback was perfect, but Giroud's effort was pitiful. Fortunately, the Frenchman's farcical mishit proved a perfect pass for Oezil's neat volley from six metres. On the other flank, Cazorla, in a deeper position, was cast to the periphery of proceedings as play slid to the opposite side towards Christian Eriksen and Kane.

As Cazorla faded, Kane came to the fore.

The day belonged to the new kid on the block.

From a set-piece in the 56th minute, Arsenal's defence disintegrated. For the first time all game, Eriksen delivered an accurate dead ball from a corner, plonking it onto Moussa Dembele's head.

Ospina acrobatically palmed the looping header away, but only into the path of Kane. He can't miss at the moment. Especially not from six metres.

The roar lifted the roof and surely chilled Wenger's soul.

Derbies so often disappoint. This one required a defibrillator. It was heart-stopping stuff as Ospina and Hugo Lloris shared spectacular saves.

A draw looked likely, until Kane killed off the Gunners at the death.

Still, the game's frenetic ending feels like the beginning.

This kid's just warming up. You ain't seen nothing yet.