The international break seems to have been the perfect tonic for Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs side. A team that couldn’t buy a win, now has three victories in succession. The difference in truth is partly a change in fortune but some of the credit also has to go to our new South Korean signing, Son Heung-min.
Son was also the hero in midweek with two goals against Qarabag but this was a much sterner test. Pardew’s arrival at Palace last term galvanised the club and summer additions, including Yohan Cabaye and Bakary Sahko, have made them a challenging opponent.
The south London club’s three wins this term included one of the shocks of the season so far, with victory at Stamford Bridge. However, they have allowed the most shots against of any of the twenty Premier League teams hinting at some defensive vulnerabilities.
Spurs dominated possession (57%) and outshot our opponents 22 – 12 but it was Son who stood out a mile in a man-of-the-match performance. His energy, pace and willingness to run at the opposition is exactly what the team has been missing.
Spurs’ dominance of midfield was in no small part due to our young central partnership of Eric Dier and Dele Alli. Dier’s solidness and strength are complemented perfectly by Alli’s box-to-box dynamism.
If there was one ingredient missing, it was the more subtle passing influence of Christian Eriksen. Spurs had lots of the ball and were generating shots but many were from distance.
Palace were a danger on the break, particularly rumoured Spurs’ target Yannick Bolasie who at times seemed to be a one man attack. They hit the woodwork twice and Lloris had to make several vital saves, including a fantastic stop from Sako just moments before the goal.
Kane is still to register and the young England forward didn’t have a particularly good game. A lot of his “failure” this season can probably be attributed to a regression to the mean. His goals per shot ratio from last season was never likely to be sustainable. He still came close, driving a rebound across the goal line, after a long range shot from Alli was palmed out by the Palace keeper.
It was no coincidence that the goal came later in the game when Palace had come more into it allowing us to hit them on the break. Lamela battled well to come away with the ball on the edge of his own area, feeding the substitute Eriksen. The Dane quickly moved the ball on to Son, coming in from the left. The Korean drove into the box with the pace and directness he had displayed all game, firing a low shot that squirmed under McCarthy.
There were some nervous moments as Palace pushed forward searching for an equaliser but Spurs held firm for a much deserved win. Three wins in a row, now even including a post-Europa League game, leaves Spurs full of confidence. With the developing talents of Alli and Dier and the new attacking impetus provided by Son, things are definitely looking up.
What did you make of the game? Were Spurs lucky to win? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
Anything But Penalties 
Spurs were not lucky to WIN against C.Palace; had several clear chances to score!
Agreed. If anything we were unlucky not to win some of those draws earlier in the season.
Room for improvement, but very happy with the result and there were lots of positives to take from this.
Alli looks a hell of a prospect! Lamela seemed to be a lot more involved than usual, time and again in possession on the corner of the box, cutting back and chipping in crosses that were unlucky to not reach Kane. If he’s not going to take a shot on from there from time to time, maybe he’d produce more tangible end product from Chadli’s role on the left?
Speaking of which, he was the only disappointment for me yesterday. With Rose missing again yesterday it was up to Chadli to provide width, stretch the defence and give a bit of space for Kane et al to do the business. Good player and held the ball up well on occasions, but perhaps could do with a rest?
Kane just crowded out too often in the middle, don’t really blame him for not scoring yet. With Son now hopefully demanding some defender attention in upcoming fixtures perhaps Kane will have a few more clear cut chances coming his way.
All in all very good week for Spurs, relief to have a couple of league wins under the belt and considering our starting line up was missing Eriksen, Dembele, Bentaleb, Mason – pretty much the first choice midfield at the start of the season – very encouraging indeed!
I just hope that the manager can rotate everyone sufficiently to keep everyone fit and happy so when the crunch weeks of the season around Christmas and March/April roll around we aren’t too stretched. I hope, for example, that Carroll, Winks, Townsend and Pritchard get some good game time against the Arse this week.
Thing are indeed looking up. COYS
It will be interesting to see what team we put out midweek. Let’s hope we give some of those players a try.
Well said about Lamela. Credit to him for not giving up after the barrage of (un)fair criticisms levelled at him. I personally thought that Poch was a bit wrong to challenge Lamela in public after his press conference but it seemed to have motivated him more.
Not perfect but lots of positives from this game. The team seems to be clicking more now and you are right to point to the international break – it gave Poch more time to find the best personnel to execute his plans on the field.
With Alli’s emergence and Dier amazing progression, I wonder where that puts Bentaleb in central midfield.
It’s nice to have so many options with so much potential.