The best action of the first half came when Richarlison tried to tease Ryan Sessegnon by playing the ball in front of goal but just out of reach of his teammate.
Not quite the same as Paul Gascogine’s infamous moment at Euro 1996, although it may be indicative of the kind of interaction we’ll see at the Spurs during Conte’s first full season in charge.
Kane had also scored a goal after a quick pass from him and Son forced Sevilla to fall back and allow the England captain a shot on goal, although Kane had strayed from offside position.
Sevilla’s best chances of the first half came as Erik Lamela grew into the game. It was the Argentinian, a cult hero in north London, who rode to the defenses of the Spurs and forced them deeper and deeper.
Lamela would later go just wide, the Spanish team’s best chance, until Rafa Mir came in through Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg’s terrible backpass, although team-mate Eric Dier did well to force him to go wide by applying pressure. .
Four minutes after the break, Son gave Kane the opener. The South Korean international swept through on goal, showed excellent control and fed the England captain just before he lost the ball, with Kane shooting home from just wide of the penalty spot.
Ivan Rakitic would equalize the scores 15 minutes later adding to his fine goal against Spurs in the 2018 Champions League group stage for Barcelona. While not as significant, the attack from outside the box was just as beautiful.
Obviously it’s hard to get too many definitive assessments of a pre-season friendly, although this was as competitive a test as Conte could have hoped. Crushing tackles, final defenses and even some on-field brawls between the teams, Spurs had to pick up speed quickly.
It is also worth noting that none of Yves Bissouma, Ivan Perisic or Clement Lenglet have played for this team to date, while a deal for Djed Spence is almost finished.
As for the pre-season friendlies, this was one of the more enjoyable encounters.