Second-half onslaught seals important win at Palace - on-the-whistle report
A stunning second-half performance saw us blow Crystal Palace away on Wednesday evening as we hit a four-goal salvo to give us our first win since the resumption of the Premier League.
After a goalless first half at Selhurst Park, Harry Kane struck twice in five minutes – his 14th and 15th Premier League goals of the season on his 300th appearance in the competition (297 for us, three on loan for Norwich City) – to put us in control and we made sure of the win with another quick-fire double from Matt Doherty and Heung-Min Son.
We were on top in the opening period of the first half, Bryan Gil – who was bright throughout the game - fired straight at Vicente Guiata on eight minutes, before Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg saw a shot blocked and Kane headed wide. But Palace grew into the game and it needed a wonderful save from Hugo Lloris to keep it goalless on 28 minutes, getting down low to stop Jordan Ayew’s effort, while Joachim Andersen rifled just wide from distance moments later.
Just three minutes after the interval though, we took the lead – the first time that’s happened in our last 10 games. Son and Bryan combined to work the ball out to Ivan Perisic and he clipped over a cross which Kane climbed highest to head home. And it was 2-0 five minutes later, Bryan with a superb threaded pass for Kane and the striker hit an angled drive past Guaita into the far corner.
A brief Palace response saw Michael Olise curl a couple of yards wide but we soon added to our tally to wrap up the points on 68 minutes. Kane was superb in the build-up, breaking through a couple of tackles before finding Son, he laid the ball back to Doherty who tucked it home. We weren’t done there though and made it 4-0 four minutes later, Kane this time lifting the ball over the Palace defence, Son shrugging aside Marc Guehi and slotting into the Palace net.
Lloris made a diving save to tip away Ayew’s effort on 80 minutes and blocked well from Wilfried Zaha with his leg as Palace looked for a consolation but we stayed firm at the back to record our first London derby win on the road in 10 league matches. And a late appearance off the bench for Academy graduate Harvey White for his Premier League debut capped a great night all round.
'A solid performance'
Antonio Conte told SPURSPLAY after the match: “It’s a really good performance, a solid performance. Finally, we didn’t concede a goal, scored four goals, important for our strikers, Harry Kane scored twice, and it was important for Sonny to score. For us, we’re talking about an important player and to keep his confidence high is very important. Matthew scored. He also scored in the three friendly games we played during the World Cup. He’s becoming a top scorer.”
Reaction on SPURSPLAY
Match data
Goals: Spurs – Kane 48, 53, Doherty 68, Son 72.
Yellow cards: Crystal Palace – Schlupp; Spurs – Skipp, Bryan.
Referee: Michael Oliver.
Venue: Selhurst Park.
Weather: Partly cloudy, moderate breeze, 11 degrees.