Tottenham 1 - Crystal Palace 0: Heung-Min Son makes the difference with match winning goal

Heung Min Son celebrates after scoring the first goal for Tottenham

HEUNG-MIN SON proved once again to be Tottenham’s hero for the second time in four days.

 

The South Korean scored twice in their 3-1 victory over FK Qarabag on Thursday night and again came to Maurico Pochettino’s rescue with his 67th minute strike.

Tottenham could have taken an early lead inside three minutes but Harry Kane’s free header failed to hit the target.

The attacking trio of Kane, Erik Lamela and Son were working well in the opening quarter of an hour as Palace struggled for possession, failing to hold the ball up for any sustainable length of time with Yannick Bolasie playing up-front and Bakary Sako in behind him.

Bolasie looked fresh from the off. Linked with a move to White Hart Lane this summer, the DR Congo international offered the Tottenham faithful a taste of what they could’ve had when his mazy run past two or three players resulted in a shot that was deflected for a corner.

 

Alex McCarthy was called into action upon the half hour mark, getting down to his left quickly to deny a ferocious Delle Alli shot. Kane followed up the rebound but couldn’t find the target from a tight angle.

At the other end Lloris had to be at his best to deny Sako’s 25-yard free kick that looked destined for the top corner.

Yohan Cabaye was quiet by his standards in the first half but he almost gave the visitors the lead before the break with his shot striking the post as Tottenham failed to clear their lines.

After the restart, a Lamela’s free-kick forced McCarthy to tip the ball over the bar as Spurs searched for the breakthrough.

 

Hugo Lloris saves from Crystal Palace's Bakary Sako

 Spurs then fired another warning shot when Ben Davies steered the ball into the net after a goalmouth scramble - only to see the linesman’s flag go up for offside.

But Palace responded and when Pape Souare’s deep cross found Sako lurking at the back post, his first-time shot was expertly denied by Lloris with the Frenchman showing lightning quick reactions to deflect the ball onto the post.

That chance proved costly as moments later Spurs caught Palace on the break with Son outpacing Brede Hangeland and firing through the legs of McCarthy and into the net.

Pardew continued to look for ways to penetrate Tottenham’s disciplined back-four by introducing Frazier Campbell and Patrick Bamford but they struggled to have any impact on the game.

Tottenham’s victory moves them up to ninth in the Premier League table – one place behind their visitors on goal difference.