Once again Harry Kane has seemingly managed to bend the rules to his advantage. Last night, the England captain won a controversial penalty as he helped Tottenham to a 2-0 win over Aston Villa in the Premier League.
To earn the penalty, Kane seemed to initiate contact from the defender instead of trying to actually play the ball. Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville diplomatically said: "It's cute from Kane, some won't like it."
Cute is one way of putting it, though many people online have opted for the ‘cheat’ instead. So, is Harry Kane the Premier League's biggest practitioner of the dark arts? Some people certainly think so.
And it’s not just his willingness to go to ground easily which has upset fans. Kane has now been attributed his own ‘signature move’.
Not for his goal scoring exploits, but rather his ability to endanger the opposition for his own gain.
Kane will often wait for a defender to leap into the air, before backing into them forcing the opposition player to fall over him. This makes the defender look out of control and so Kane often wins a foul.
The reality is, though, Kane has forced the defender to lose control and has put them in potential danger by knocking them off balance mid-air.
As Charlie Eccleshare explains in the Athletic: “In rugby, it is illegal to tackle any player who has gone for a high ball and has both feet off the ground. It is punishable with a red card because the potential for injury is so obvious.”
Despite the obvious risk to his play, Kane has continued to use his move without facing any punishment – he even won a penalty for it against Brighton.
Some fans even believe that, due to Kane’s ‘golden boy’ status as England captain, he can get away with anything.
Their point may have been proved when Kane recently took his north London derby loss frustrations out on Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhaes. The Tottenham striker went completely unpunished despite his brutal challenge.
Kane is certainly not the only player in the world, or indeed England, to dive. Nor is he the only player to make bad challenges.
But his growing frequency to dabble in the dark arts without facing any punishment has caused plenty of football followers to suggest he is currently the game’s biggest con man.