Heung-Min Son broke his goal drought and Harry Kane scored twice as Tottenham beat Crystal Palace 4-0 at Selhurst Park.
To use a sports cliché, it was a game of two halves for the Spurs. Antonio Conte was looking for a reaction from his side after the draw against Brentford and defeat at Aston Villa since the league restarted after the World Cup.
In the opening 45 minutes, they were demolished by an impressive Palace side, who themselves were looking to make amends for an abysmal 3-0 defeat to Fulham in their last home outing.
But, as has often been the story for the Eagles, they were unable to capitalize on their chances as Tottenham’s quality began to shine through in the second half. Kane, on his 300th Premier League appearance, headed Spurs ahead in the 48th minute.
He swept in his second five minutes later to take him within two goals of Jimmy Greaves’ record goals for Tottenham (266).
The pressure had also been on Son as he continued to struggle in front of goal. He thought he had an assist for Matt Doherty’s goal (68), but his cross deflected off Nathaniel Clyne on the way.
The South Korea forward soon snapped his eight-game goalless streak in the 72nd minute, linking up with strike partner Kane for another Spurs goal. It was also a fine volley, which rounded off an excellent evening for Spurs.
“[My goal] It’s about time!” Son told Sky Sports after the game. “It felt amazing. To be honest, I felt really sorry for the team because I think they expected more than I did.
“I hope that today was the turning point, to regain confidence and I will continue to help the team.”
The result takes them two points off the Champions League places, despite having played one game more than fourth-placed Manchester United.
Although Crystal Palace’s performance was an improvement on the defeat by Fulham, they have now lost two consecutive Premier League games at Selhurst Park, dropping a place to 12th.
How Spurs secured victory at Selhurst Park
Image: Harry Kane is now only the second player in Premier League history after Teddy Sheringham to score in his 100th, 200th and 300th appearance
While Tottenham were the better team in the opening 25 minutes, there weren’t too many chances to shout about. Wilfried Zaha couldn’t find Michael Olise’s cross from the right, before the France Under-21 international skied his own effort home. At the other end, Kane steered his own header wide of the post.
But Crystal Palace soon began to find a foothold in the game and should have gone into the break ahead. Zaha easily passed Oliver Skipp and Bryan Gil before finding Ayew. However, the Ghana striker’s shot was well saved by Hugo Lloris.
Team news
- Crystal Palace named an unchanged XI from their 2-0 win at Bournemouth. James Tomkins returned from suspension and was named among the substitutes.
- Tottenham made two changes after their 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa. Oliver Skipp and Eric Dier entered the XI, replacing Yves Bissouma – who was suspended – and Ben Davies, who started as a substitute.
- Dejan Kulusevski was also absent from Spurs’ matchday squad. A slight muscle injury ruled him out of Sunday’s 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa and also kept him out at Selhurst Park.
Shortly after the hour, Joachim Andersen was encouraged to shoot by the home fans, and he did. After cutting the ball to his left, he sent a superb curling effort towards goal, with a last-minute deflection that saw him miss the goal by inches.
Crystal Palace continued to dominate and Tottenham will have been grateful to have leveled at the break. The Eagles should also have scored 15 seconds after the restart. Cristian Romero’s poor touch from Joel Ward’s long ball allowed Ayew to head home, but Eric Dier was there to block the shot.
But the Eagles were punished for their lack of finishing as Kane scored twice in five minutes. Gil picked out Ivan Perisic down the left, who swept a cross past Kane who was waiting at the back post. He then rose above Joel Ward to head home the opener.
Image: Harry Kane is now only the second player in Premier League history after Teddy Sheringham to score in his 100th, 200th and 300th appearance
It was then Kane who created the second goal himself, playing a nice exchange with Gil down the right. Once he got the ball, it was an easy, slotted finish from the England captain as he approaches Greaves’ register.
Crystal Palace hardly sat back after that – Olise was dragged wide before substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta nodded – but Tottenham weren’t done yet when Kane set up his team-mates again.
He found Son on the right of the box, forced wide by Ward, with his eventual cross deflecting off Clyne from close range. However, Doherty still collected the ball and beat Vicente Guaita for Tottenham’s third.
Player ratings
Crystal Palace: Guaita (6), Ward (6), Guehi (6), Olise (7), Ayew (7), Eze (7), Zaha (7), Schlupp (6), Andersen (6), Clyne (6), Doucoure (6).
Subs: Mateta (6), Edward (5), Hughes (5).
Tottenham: Lloris (7), Doherty (7), Skipp (6), Hojbjerg (7), Son (7), Kane (8), Gil (7), Perisic (7), Dier (7), Romero (6), Lenglet (6).
Subs: Sarr (7), Sessegnon (6), Emerson Royal (6), Davies (n/a), Blanc (n/a)
Player of the Match: Harry Kane.
But Son finally made the breakthrough, snapping his worst goalless streak since October 2018. Kane flicked a ball over the top and found his team-mate, who had gone past Marc Guehi. It was also a fine volley from the striker, who took off his mask and threw it into the box as he celebrated in front of the away fans.
Crystal Palace continued to find openings, Lloris had to save twice from Ayew and Zaha, but they were unable to spoil Spurs’ party as they took all three points to north London.
Man of the match: “Kane’s performance was a master class”
Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp:
“Graeme said before the game that when you have a player like Harry Kane you always have a chance and that came through there.
“He was amazing, not just his goals, his all-round game. He stuck it out, he got people into the game, his touch was exquisite. It was a master class second half and his second goal is so good how can
“The touch and the finish is sublime and we’ve seen him do it time and time again. Just an incredible player.”
Sky Sports’ Graeme Souness:
“He didn’t look at the goal or the goalkeeper [for his second goal] but he knows where the goal is by the line of the six-yard box. He is a class player, the only English player who is truly world class for me.
“I think they’ll finish in the top four because they have him. Keep him fit. He’s Mr. Goals. And you have a good chance of winning games if you have him in your team.”
Harry Kane on Sky Sports:
“Really important [result]. We haven’t come back and had the best results, we did well at Brentford to get something out of the game and then to lose at home a few days ago was difficult. It was a difficult game away from home today, so it was nice to have this performance.
“I thought we started the game well so it was more about getting back into it in the second half. It was about moving the ball quickly, getting runs in behind and then just quality in the final third.
“These are the games, if you go 1-0 down you can find it very difficult to come back. The games are going very fast so it was great to get three points here.
“Hopefully we can carry that momentum into the games ahead.”
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Speaking after Tottenham’s 4-0 win over Crystal Palace in the Premier League, Graeme Souness claimed Harry Kane is England’s only world-class player but suggested he had a poor campaign in the World Cup.
Conte happy with the ‘reaction’ of the Spurs | “Important that Son notes”
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Tottenham manager Antonio Conte says Heung-min Son’s goal in the 4-0 win over Crystal Palace is important for his confidence and praised his defense for an important clean sheet.
Tottenham boss Antonio Conte on Sky Sports:
“It was a good reaction. It’s not easy to win against Crystal Palace away, we’re talking about a very good team, well organised.
“After the first half it was in the balance, then in the second half we took chances to score and then we ended up with a good final result.
“The message [at half-time] it was to keep playing, because we started the game very well and then in the second half of the first half we lost a little bit of possession. I think we played a good game, we were well organized without the ball, we tried to press high.
“I’m happy because our forwards scored, Harry scored two goals and finally Sonny scored. It was very important for him, because we are talking about a player who needs to score and have confidence.
“Now we have to keep trying to improve. Today I am happy because in this period we are playing with many young players. I had this opportunity in this period during the World Cup with these young players to work with these young players and improve, tactically and physically.”
“Fantastic night for Tottenham”
Sky Sports’ Alan Smith…