One goal changed everything for Harry Kane and Tottenham as he eyes history in derby

For Spurs fans, there are few things more important than scoring against the Gunners, and Kane has more goals in the north London derby than any player in history.

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The 29-year-old is within one of club legend Jimmy Greaves' 266-goal tally and it is only a matter of time before Kane breaks the record.

In the eyes of many, the England captain is about to cement himself as the greatest player in Tottenham history.

But somewhere in an alternative universe, Mauricio Pochettino didn't bring him off the bench when Spurs were 1-0 down to Aston Villa on November 2, 2014.

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Kane didn't step up to take the last-minute free-kick that probably saved Pochettino's job.

He didn't go on to start every remaining Premier League game that season, replacing the misfiring Roberto Soldado.

Tottenham didn't climb to fifth and Kane didn't become the first Spurs player to bag 30 goals in one campaign since Gary Lineker in 1991/92.

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Who knows what would've happened if Kane was not introduced on that fateful night?

At the time, Pochettino was just six months into his five-year reign at Tottenham and things were going very badly.

Fans thought it couldn't get much worse than Tim Sherwood's gilet-inspired spell, but Pochettino had them languishing in mid-table with 11 points from nine matches.

Tottenham chief Daniel Levy had imagined a long-term project under the Argentine, but ahead of the trip to Villa, there were whispers his patience was being tested.

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Soldado and Emmanuel Adebayor offered nothing in attack, and Spurs founds themselves 1-0 down within 16 minutes.

Desperate for a spark, Pochettino rolled the dice and replaced Adebayor with Kane on 58 minutes.

It was a sliding-doors moment which potentially changed the course of history.

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After Christian Benteke was sent off, Nacer Chadli popped up with an 84th-minute equaliser, then Tottenham were awarded a free-kick in the dying moments.

Christian Eriksen had already been taken off and Kane, who had no rank to pull, grabbed the ball.

Kane has scored many beautiful goals, but while this one might be his most meaningful in a Spurs shirt, it was far from the prettiest.

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A huge deflection left Brad Guzan with no chance and sparked utter bedlam in the away end.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Kane had already been prolific in cup competitions for Spurs and that was his seventh goal in seven matches.

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In fact, he was given his initial chance by Sherwood in the previous campaign.

So while it was not a total gamble by Pochettino, the ex-Tottenham manager once reflected on the goal as a career-changing moment.

Speaking in 2017, when asked for his favourite Kane goal, Pochettino said: "I can find many other goals that were fantastic but, for me, goals are related to emotion, to the period you are living in. For me, that goal was an amazing goal because it meant for us, for everyone, the possibility to stay here today.

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"It's true, the team were 14th or 13th and we were a little bit under pressure because the team were playing well, but not winning games and we were a bit under pressure. Always in football, when you don't get good results, the first to be sacked is the manager…

"That is why that goal allowed us to carry on working and try to change the club. We were in the first season at Tottenham and people on day one when I signed the contract said, 'Ok maybe in a few months, we have a new face in front of us!'"

But Kane's story is not a total fairytale and for heroes to rise, others must fall.

This feels like a good time to mention that Soldado left Tottenham in 2015 with seven Premier League goals.

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