Manager Jose Mourinho hailed Harry Kane’s “special” qualities after the striker’s 150th Premier League goal earned Tottenham victory at West Brom.
A third successive league victory temporarily lifted Spurs to the top of the table on Sunday before Leicester replaced them after their 1-0 win against Wolves.
A game of few chances seemed destined to end goalless after Hugo Lloris had kept out Karlan Grant’s second-half header and a flurry of Tottenham chances had come and gone without reward.
But, as has been the case so often in the past, Kane punished a minor lack of concentration to head home an 88th-minute winner.
Mourinho said: “This guy does much more than scoring goals. For example, last five minutes he was playing as a number six and winning balls in front of the defence. Special.”
He added: “Harry Kane you have to say has this many goals, this many assists, this number of balls recovered, this number of duels won. This number of balls that he saved his team in defensive set-pieces. This is Harry Kane. It’s goals plus this and this and this and that.”
The England captain’s latest feat comes only days after he scored his 200th goal for the club. Midfielder Eric Dier paid tribute to his team-mate’s latest “fantastic record”.
He said: “He broke one in midweek and now he has another one. It won’t affect him too much, he will want another 150.”
The decisive moment arrived when West Brom’s defence failed to track Kane’s run into the box, allowing him to leap unchecked to meet Matt Doherty’s cross and guide the ball over goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.
For West Brom, who have now scored once in their last five games, it was a result that keeps them in the relegation zone and already facing a tough battle to retain their top-flight status.