Son Heung-min scores only goal in Tottenham win over Crystal Palace
Spurs 1 - 0 C PalaceHome team scorers
Heung-Min Son 68
They love a hero in this part of north London and in Son Heung-min, Tottenham may have just found a new one. The South Korean forward signed from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer for £22m followed up his two goals in the Europa League with the winner in this scrappy derby as Mauricio Pochettino’s side recorded their first home win of the season in the Premier League.
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The Spurs manager must have known this win was just as much down to the heroics of Hugo Lloris. The France goalkeeper produced an early contender for save of the season to deny Sako less than three minutes before Tottenham’s goal, having also earlier saved the Palace winger’s first-half free-kick. But as a sea of fans sporting Son’s No7 shirt thronged outside the car park to celebrate their victory, Pochettino revealed the extent to which their new signing had gone to ingratiate himself with his new team-mates.
“You can see that Son’s a very friendly boy and this week he brought some Korean food into the training ground. It’s very good – like Chinese or Japanese. I like a lot. I had a big dish,” said the manager. “He was fantastic. The energy that he showed was amazing and for that I think the supporters were very happy with him. Son is a player that we have followed for a long time. He can play No9, No10, No7 or No11 – all the different positions up front. When a new player arrives the expectation is always very big but he has settled in very well.”
Just as the Tottenham squad were tucking into their lunch on Friday, Palace’s hopes of recording a ninth win in 11 Premier League away games under Alan Pardew suffered a blow when the defender Scott Dann picked up a calf strain in training. The partnership of Brede Hangeland and Damien Delaney coped manfully with the initial onslaught, with Harry Kane still struggling to replicate last season’s blistering form as he wasted a couple of decent opportunities on the rebound.
Palace could have found themselves in front in the 37th minute had Lloris not been on hand to turn away Sako’s accurate free-kick, while Yohan Cabaye was desperately unlucky to have a shot cannon off the post on the stroke of half-time. Yet it was another miraculous save from the Spurs captain that proved to be the turning point in a week when Pochettino had praised Lloris’s loyalty after interest from Manchester United in the summer.
“Going forward we went as good as we usually are but the goalkeeper was probably man of the match to deny us with two saves which probably changed the course of the match,” Pardew said. “I could argue that we should have done better in certain things but they are the margins that you’re dealing with in this division. We’ve won three and lost three of our first six and if you look at the fixtures I don’t think that’s a bad return really. Having said that it could have been so much better. We must lean on that part of it and with a little bit of improvement, we could find ourselves competing at the top of the division. I don’t want to be in the mid-table – I told the players after the game – it’s not for me. I don’t want to be there. We’re better than that.”
Pardew had riled some Tottenham supporters in the buildup by suggesting that they “will definitely finish in the top 10” this season. Palace achieved that feat themselves last season and the challenge for the former Newcastle manager now is to pick up his players from successive defeats, starting with a Capitol One cup derby against Charlton on Wednesday.
For Pochettino, there was the satisfaction of ending a run of just one win in five at home in the Premier League as his side moved level on points with Palace in the table. The manager dispensed with his usual matchday attire of tracksuit and trainers and instead donned a smart suit in the home dugout – a move he attributed to the fact that his parents were due to be watching the game on television at home in Argentina.
But with Eric Dier and Dele Alli – the summer signing from MK Dons – outclassing Palace’s experienced duo of Cabaye and James McArthur in central midfield, there is now plenty of cause for optimism among the Spurs supporters after a slow start to the new season.
“I’m not surprised by his progress. It’s in his character and personality,” Pochettino said of Alli. “We need to take it step by step because he is young and the Premier league is not easy. But he is very mature.”
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
Guardian