The enduring football image of 2017 will be Harry Kane’s goal celebration after the Tottenham Hotspur striker became the Premier League’s top scorer in a calendar year and ensured he finished ahead of Lionel Messi as the leading man for club and country.
Kane took only 22 minutes to beat Alan Shearer’s record that had stood since 1995 and 17 minutes later he had seen off Messi too. The hat-trick seemed inevitable and when it duly came in the 67th minute, even his team-mates joined in the hero worship.
His second goal against Southampton meant that Kane moved ahead of Messi, who finished 2017 on 54 for Barcelona and Argentina. By the final whistle, Kane had completed the year on 39 goals in the Premier League and 56 for club and country thanks to back-to-back hat-tricks.
This is the first time in eight years that neither Messi nor Ronaldo have finished the year as top scorer for club and country. David Villa was the last man before Kane to better the duo in 2009.
“I'm very proud of it,” said Kane. “Messi and Ronaldo have dominated football for so long and they're two of the greatest players ever, so it's an honour to even be compared to them.”
Kane’s manager Mauricio Pochettino added: “Both achievements are massive. To break the Premier League record set by Alan Shearer and then if you see the last seven or eight years, it’s always been Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, and today it’s Harry Kane, a player from Tottenham.
“Of course Messi and Cristiano are different. Today, one striker in the world, a specific position, who is better than him (Kane)? He’s one of the best. It’s difficult to say he’s the best, but he’s shown to everyone he’s one of the best.”The cynics will argue that calendar years count for nothing in football and in terms of trophies they might not. But this is a significant personal achievement for Kane.
Consider the fact that Shearer netted his record in one half of Blackburn’s Premier League title-winning season and the men Kane beat for his club and country record, Messi, Ronaldo Robert Lewandowski and Edinson Cavani, play for Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.
And look at the list of greats who Kane has bettered in the Premier League. Robin van Persie, Thierry Henry, Les Ferdinand and Ruud van Nistelrooy all went close to breaking Shearer’s record, but never managed it.
Shearer was quick to pay tribute to Kane by posting a message on Twitter that read: “You’ve had a magnificent 2017 @HKane. You deserve to hold the record of most 
“You need to fight with all your determination to keep at this level,” said Pochettino. “The most important thing is to keep the same mentality. If you achieve something and then you run nine metres instead of 10, you will cheat yourself and that is a massive problem.
“The secret is to work hard every day. You cannot say ‘no’ for one day. That is the secret of the big players like Harry, Christiano and Messi. You cannot afford not to work every day.”
Kane added: “I’ll keep working harder, it's about finding little percentages to get better and doing things on the training ground to make you better. There's a great staff here and a great manager here who will keep pushing me, don't you worry about that!”
Of all his brilliant goals this year, Kane will not have scored many easier than the first two that made him a double record breaker on Boxing Day.
Southampton midfielder Oriol Romeu allowed Kane to simply stand in front of him to head in Christian Eriksen’s free-kick from close range after Danny Rose had been fouled on the right edge of the penalty area by Pierre-Emile Hojberg.
And Kane was given a tap in by Heung-Min Son after the South Korean had been put through by Dele Alli.
Rose had hit the underside of his own crossbar with a wayward header in the first-half and Mario Lemina struck the Spurs woodwork again straight after the break, but the afternoon became embarrassing for the Saints in the second period.
Alli scored his first Premier League goal since October in the 49th minute and the midfielder quickly turned provide for Son to make it 4-0 to Tottenham with a shot across Fraser Forster.
Some of the travelling Southampton fans responded by chanting ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’ at manager Mauricio Pellegrino and it’s fair to assume that the Argentine will not prove to be another Pochettino.
Kane almost completed his hat-trick in the 57th minute, but the 24-year-old volleyed Rose’s high pass inches wide of the post and Sofiane Boufal pulled a goal back for Pellegrino’s men.This was Kane’s day, as well as his year, however, and it was fitting that he finished with a second successive treble, having also netted three against Burnley three days earlier.
Son and Alli combined superbly to set up Kane, who held off Maya Yoshida and finished expertly past Forster to become the first player to score six Premier League hat-tricks in a year.
Rose bowed in appreciation in front of Kane and Son pretended to polish the most lethal boot of 2017.
Southampton substitute Manolo Gabbiadini reduced the deficit slightly with eight minutes remaining, but Kane walked off the pitch for the final time this year with the matchball and two records.