Tottenham 1-0 Crystal Palace: Five talking points from White Hart Lane
Sunday 20 September 2015 16:35, UK
Heung-Min Son scored his first Premier League goal to secure a 1-0 win for Tottenham over Crystal Palace on Sunday.
The result ends Crystal Palace's 100 per cent away record this season and lifts Tottenham into the top half of the Premier League.
Here, we pick out the key talking points from the match, including Harry Kane's wait for his first Tottenham goal in 2015/16 and Alan Pardew's cavalier approach...
Son shines
Heung-Min Son is fast becoming a hero at White Hart Lane. After scoring twice on his home debut in the Europa League, the South Korea international netted his first Premier League strike four days later to sink Crystal Palace. "I hope every week is like this," he told Sky Sports after the game.
However, even before Son's second-half sprint into the visitors' box and rifled finish through the legs of Alex McCarthy, the forward was bringing Spurs fans to the edge of their seats every time he approached the opposition area.
"I think Tottenham have found one. If that's his level of performance, then he's a player," Graeme Souness told Sky Sports. Team-mate Hugo Lloris was equally impressed with the impact made by the former Bayer Leverkusen man. "He's always available, with a lot of movement. He's got great skill and he will help the team to make a step forward."
Spurs' young guns
Tottenham's starting XI against Crystal Palace had an average age of 24 years and 118 days. That's the youngest line-up any Premier League side has kicked off with this season.
However, the likes of Dele Alli (19 years old) and Eric Dier (21) are performing beyond their years.
No player on Sunday had more touches than former MK Dons youngster Alli, who also made more passes in the Palace half than any Spurs player, while Dier was the top tackler (seven) and only Jan Vertonghen made more clearances than 22-year-old Ben Davies (six).
Arsenal, in the Capital One Cup, and Manchester City both visit White Hart Lane this week and whether Spurs' young guns can maintain their form through those tough fixtures remains to be seen. But the future's bright at Tottenham.
Kane draws another blank
While Son is scoring for fun, the wait goes on for Harry Kane. The Spurs striker is still searching for his first club goal of the season. In fact, he has netted just twice in his last 13 Premier League games, going back to the end of last season. He'd scored 17 in his previous 15 Premier League games before this run.
Kane's drought isn't down to a lack of trying, though. Only Son had more shots at goal and his work rate was as fierce as ever - only three players on the pitch covered more ground. However, unlike last season, it just won't click for him.
Kane headed wastefully over the bar when unmarked early on and fired wildly across goal instead of picking out Erik Lamela or hitting the target himself after latching onto a loose ball on 32 minutes. A tame free-kick into the base of a Crystal Palace wall in the closing stages summed up his afternoon.
Palace's away run ends
Crystal Palace arrived at White Hart Lane with a 100 per cent record away from home this season, with wins on the road at Norwich and Chelsea to their name. After watching Yohan Cabaye's shot smash into the post and Hugo Lloris pull off a wonder-save to deny Bakary Sako, boss Alan Pardew may be ruing the fact that run has continued.
However, as well as their impressive away record, Palace have also failed to keep a clean sheet this season. They were caught on the break by Son, with five Palace players still in Spurs' half when the ball hit the net.
Jamie Carragher, though, says that is simply a risk associated with the cavalier football Pardew is determined to play at Palace.
"That is how Alan Pardew wants his teams to play: go forward. But at times you will be caught on the counter-attack," said Carragher.
"You have to admire it. That's what we've been excited about by Palace at the start of this season. But at times they're going to come un-stuck by it."
Talking tactics...
Crystal Palace kicked off without a recognised striker in their line-up, just as they had done in their narrow defeat to Manchester City last time out.
However, while their system frustrated the Premier League leaders for almost the entire game last weekend, it seemed to leave Palace without a point of attack when they had the ball against Spurs. With just 35 minutes on the clock, Alan Pardew was already preparing Frazier Campbell for his half-time introduction.
Had Cabaye's drive on the stroke of half-time cannoned in off the post, instead of deflecting to safety, Campbell's appearance may have been delayed. Instead, Pardew was forced into a re-think at the interval.
Patrick Bamford, who scored 19 times for Middlesbrough last season, made a late appearance, but perhaps the return to fitness of Connor Wickham will alter Palace's approach in their next Premier League outing at Watford.
