Oh Tottenham Hotspur, there is never a game that you don’t cease to amaze us with the display of frustration and happiness in 90 minutes.
Saturday was another prime example against London rivals Crystal Palace as Spurs got the job done in the second half with three goals.
It wasn’t pretty though as the first half saw a goalless performance — sixth straight home performance with no first-half goals — and quite honestly the game was quite boring by both sides.
A few chances did come on both sides but it was more injury-riddled on Spurs to make sure Micky Van de Ven and Guglielmo Vicario weren’t hurt.
With that being said, the second half came and both sides picked up the pace as Spurs had strong build-up play but couldn’t get the final product to get into the back of the net.
Palace being sparce in the chances took full advantage of a foul by Rodrigo Bentancur on Eberechi Eze just outside the box. Being a stellar free-kick taker, Eze stepped up for his team and sent his curler into the right side of the net as the outstretched Vicario had no chance as he dealt with two walls in his view.
Being down 1-0 into the final 15 minutes of the game, the substitution of Brennan Johnson proved to be a big boost. Working on the pitch since coming on, Johnson had the ball on the right side of the touchline and battled his way through Joachim Andersen and Jefferson Lerma to get inside the box.
Not thinking twice about his decision and seeing free space across him in the six-yard box, Johnson sent a driven pass through the frame for Timo Werner to earn his first goal as a Spurs player. (Werner missed a chance in the first half that felt it was never going to happen for the German).
Seeing the excitement of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium rise to get into the game and tied at 1-1, Spurs kept the gas on the pedal and grabbed their second goal in three minutes on a brilliant pass by James Maddison.
Having won a throw-in by Emerson Royal, Maddison received the ball near the box and as he took a touch with free space, Maddison chipped a pass on his right foot toward the middle of the six-yard box for Cristian Romero to leap over a Palace defender and nick it into the far post for the 2-1 lead.
Spurs added the dagger in the 88th minute on a one-on-one chance by Son Heung-min to send Johnston the wrong way and the three points into the pocket of the Lilywhites.
Notes:
- The first half was ugly, something needs to be fixed to not leave things until the very end to work the magic
- Brennan Johnson’s impact as a sub is tremendous, would love to see him get more chances as a starter with the runs he can create at the back post
- Spurs allowed yet another goal on a set piece, something to fix on the push to top-4
- Eleven corners and nothing close to a goal, really tough to watch after last year when it felt like a goal a game was coming by set pieces/corners
- Spurs know how to come back from deficits, it’s great to see the fight in the lads of all things
- Thirty-eight straight Premier League games with at least one goal for Tottenham, a remarkable feat