Kane betters Shearer record, overtakes Messi

London: Harry Kane toppled Alan Shearer's 22-year-old record for the most Premier League goals in a calendar year and overtook Lionel Messi as the top scorer in Europe by scoring a hat-trick in Tottenham Hotspur's 5-2 win over Southampton on Tuesday.
England forward Kane, 24, also set a Premier League record by scoring six hat-tricks in a calendar year as he capped another ruthless display in front of goal to complete his treble in the 67th minute, his second in as many games.
Kane headed in Christian Eriksen's free-kick in the 22nd minute to overtake Shearer's 36 goals in 1995 with Blackburn Rovers, a tally he had equalled by scoring three times in Spurs' 3-0 win at Burnley on Saturday.
The double Premier League Golden Boot holder then increased Tottenham's advantage by finishing off a sweeping team move with a tap in from close range in the 39th minute, edging ahead of Barcelona forward Messi as the top scorer in Europe for 2017.
Kane then hit a second treble in as many games to make it 5-1, rounding off the year with 39 Premier League goals and 56 strikes in all competitions for Spurs and England.
Dele Alli and Son Heung-min scored Tottenham's other goals while Sofiane Boufal and substitute Dusan Tadic netted for Southampton in an action-packed game.
Kane leads an impressive list of forwards for the most goals in competitive games for club and country which also contains Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski, Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo and Paris St Germain's Edinson Cavani.
Kane was immediately congratulated by Shearer.
"You've had a magnificent 2017 @HKane. You deserve to hold the record of most Premier League goals in a calendar year. Well done and keep up the good work," the former England and Newcastle United great wrote on Twitter.
Kane slid on his knees on the Wembley pitch after netting the milestone goal while the home fans chanted "Harry Kane: he's one of our own".
Former England and Tottenham forward Gary Lineker joined in praising Kane with a post on Twitter. He wrote: "He's only gone and done it. First Shearer's record and now Messi's total is surpassed. Well played @HKane. Absolutely magnificent achievement."