The awarding of Harry Kane's 25th goal of the Premier League season following an appeal sparked a social media storm. Even Mohamed Salah, the Tottenham Hotspur striker's rival for the Golden Boot, tweeted his bemusement at the decision to credit Kane rather than Christian Eriksen, who was originally given the goal.
Although the ball appeared to hit Kane's shoulder in stills of the goal against Stoke City on Saturday, some English football fans questioned whether he was a team player. "I swear on my daughter's life that I touched the ball," Kane said while trying to get the goal retrospectively added to his tally.
Kane's manager, Mauricio Pochettino, anticipates a steep learning curve for his artilleryman following the subsequent social media storm.
"Of course, he never thought that this situation would escalate, when he was so certain that he touched the ball," Pochettino told the Guardian's Paul MacInnes. "After the game Harry said he touched the ball with a shoulder, he told Christian. I think Harry is a very honest person, he's not going to lie about this situation. It's not a big issue for the team.
"It's normal that he was a little bit disappointed (by the response) because Harry and all our players have Twitter, Instagram, and all those things and while Tottenham fans will have supported him, fans of other clubs will have killed him.
"People have opinions, but that is normal. He was disappointed because he never wanted to create this. Sometimes it can seem a simple thing, and then it becomes big and you can't stop it. That is what happened here. I think he is going to learn a lot from this you know."
Kane is now four goals short of Salah's count of 29. Spurs have six matches left in this Premier League campaign, beginning with this Saturday's visit from Manchester City. Salah, meanwhile, will have opportunities to get on the scoresheet for Liverpool in five clashes against Bournemouth, West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City, Chelsea, and Brighton & Hove Albion.
