Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham team would be looking to keep the pressure on Aston Villa for the fourth and final UEFA Champions League spot as they welcomed Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
TOT: Vicario; Emerson, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie; Bissouma, Bentancur; Kulusevski, Maddison, Werner; Son
CRY: Johnstone; Ward, Andersen, Richards, Munoz; Wharton, Lerma, Mitchell; Ayew, Eze, Mateta
Tottenham’s main threat came courtesy of the luckless Timo Werner, who last scored a goal for RB Leipzig in October, and Spurs’ biggest chance of an uneventful first half came to the German who could not beat Johnstone in the Palace goal.
Palace were afforded a couple of half chances, both of which fell to Jean-Phillipe Mateta but the Frenchman skewed his first effort before being poached for his second, taking an eternity to pull the trigger.
To their credit, Glasner’s Palace were proving hard to break down and their resilience was rewarded on the hour mark as the returning Eze showed his quality.
Presented with a free kick in a dangerous position 25 yards out, Eberechi Eze – returning from a hamstring injury for his first appearance since January – curled it into the top corner to give Palace a 1-0 lead.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe goal seemed to spur the home side into life and a huge opportunity for Brennan Johnson was spurned at the back post, but the former Nottingham Forest man more than made up for it with the Tottenham equaliser.
It was his guile in beating Lerma and a poor Joachim Andersen that led to the opportunity for a cross to Timo Werner, who tapped home to score his first goal in Tottenham white.
A couple of minutes later, Spurs were ahead as Cristian Romero found himself on the end of a cute cross from James Maddison and when Palace pressed forward in search of an equaliser, it was Son who provided the sucker punch.
The South Korean captain swept home on the counter attack to seal maximum points and a 3-1 victory to open March with a win ahead of a huge trip to league rivals Aston Villa next weekend.
Embed from Getty ImagesCrystal Palace face Luton Town and Nottingham Forest next in the Premier League, and Oliver Glasner will be hoping to gain enough points in order for them not to look over their shoulders at the relegation scrap.
