Heung-Min Son’s second-half strike handed Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 win at Wembley this afternoon. The win sees Tottenham keep in touch with Manchester City who play later.
The South Korea forward scored the winner midway through the second period with a well-struck shot from the edge of the area, but Palace can feels themselves a tad unlucky as they spurned a number of chances.
Heung-Min Son celebrates after scoring the winning goal
Chances were few and far between in the opening half, but it was Palace who started the strongest, and they really took the game to Spurs.
And the Eagles almost went ahead on the quarter hour. Wilfried Zaha was through on goal, but Kieran Dyer intervened with a perfectly timed tackle before the Palace forward could get a strike on goal.
It was a far cry from the Spurs side that beat Real Madrid the other day, as Palace were having more of the ball than they might have expected. But with Deli Alli missing, Tottenham, decided to play tight and counter. They were solid at the back, but going forward the home side were goal shy in the opening half.
Spurs are playing their home games at Wembley this season
Mauricio Pochettino brought Mousa Dembele on for Harry Winks just after the break, to try and liven the home side up, but it was Palace who came closest to breaking the deadlock. Serge Aurier gifted the ball straight to Andros Townsend, who surged forward and fired a low shot to test Tottenham’s 3rd choice keeper Paulo Gazzaniga, who did well to fingertip it away for a corner.
Tottenham started to go in search of the decisive first goal, but again Palace should have taken the lead. A quick counter by the Eagles saw Townsend release Zaha. The Palace forward was through on goal and rounded the advancing keeper, and with an empty goal inviting him, he knocked it wide from the edge of the area. It was a terrible miss.
3rd choice keeper Gazzaniga kept Spurs in it with some fine saves
Spurs were shaken, and began to up their game more. A couple more half-chances came their way as the fans demanded more, and then on the 64th minute Heung-Min Son finally broke the deadlock.
There was confusion in the Palace defence as the ball came in from the right. There was a scramble for the ball but it ran kindly for the waiting Son on the edge of the area. The South Korean then fired a curling shot into the roof of the net, to leave the Palace keeper with no chance.
Son strikes from the edge of the area to hand Spurs 3 points
And the weary looking Tottenham then shut up shop to close out the game for a nervy 1-0 win. They looked jaded after their Champions League exploits and can thank 3rd choice keeper Gazzaniga for keeping them in it. For Palace, it was a vast improvement on their early season form, but times is getting on for them as they’re now 5 points away from safety.
Image Sources:
www.ooyala.com
www.cloudfront.net
www.imgbb.com
www.bbc.co.uk
www.storify.com
