Chickentonight - Sydney FC v Tottenham Hotspur lyrics

A first half strike from young English superstar Harry Kane was enough for Tottenham to shade last night's friendly at ANZ Stadium, and earned the visitors the spurious piece of silverware on offer to the winners. But a Sydney side that left the grand final looking haggard a fortnight previously found a performance worth quiet satisfaction against their English Premier League opponents. If the pace of the game drifted from a canter to a stroll, for two sides at the end of their seasons, Arnold could be pleased by the structure and movement his team produced. Apart from Kane's explosive strike their finishing was careless - Erik Lamela's free header in the fourth minute flew wastefully high, as did Christian Eriksen's shot with the Sydney goal gaping, while Lamela's inventive chip transfixed Ivan Necevski in the Sydney goal but drifted a fraction wide. Sydney though were by no means played off the park - after initial nerves, the wingers Bernie Ibini and Chris Naumoff began to make sporadic inroads. Naumoff was a menace to Spurs, wriggling free more than once and stinging the palms of Hugo Lloris with a shot at the near post. In fact Sydney could and should have led, after a horrible mistake from DeAndre Yedlin presented the ball to Alex Brosque on the edge of the box. The Sydney captain eased around Lloris but his shot lacked conviction and was desperately hacked off the line by Jan Vertonghen. But the main event was clearly Kane, his every touch lifting the noise of the crowd another level. Twice Necevski had denied him in the first half, pushing one shot aside then clawing the ball away as Kane broke clear. The England striker also butchered a golden chance, miskicking Andros Townend's low cross. But with two minutes to go to the break, Spurs broke with real style. Nabil Bentalab's run down the left caught Sydney's attention but instead the ball was worked inside to Lamela, who drew the Sky Blue defence before slipping in Kane. Instantly the striker hit an explosive low shot that was past Necevski in a second and inside the far post. It was tempting to view the flurry of substitutions that followed halftime with forboding, but if anything the youngsters whom Graham Arnold threw into the fray - George Blackwood and Andrew Hoole particularly - galvanised Sydney further. Undeniably Tottenham's thoughts were turning towards imminent holidays, and their pace lessened still further. But Sydney still worked the ball intelligently, with Terry Antonis a picture of constructive activity in the centre of midfield, fuelled by the frustration of a season cruelled by injury. Tottenham perhaps felt the need to a**ert their superiority, and after Nacer Chadli's dribble Kane twisted and turned in the box, firing in a shot that Ryall cleared off the line at the far post. Grant Ward, on as one of Tottenham's own avalanche of subs, cut in from the left and shot powerfully but straight at Necevski. For the Sydney goalkeeper, his club's longest-serving player, there was a surreal air to his farewell game, beating away shots from one of the hottest strikers in Europe after a season spent watching from the bench. For the crowd, their waning focus was rather betrayed by the fusillade of cheers for a paper aeroplane that drifted from high in the stands all the way to the touchline, to be caught by the fourth official.