Son shines for injury-hit Spurs

– Tottenham Hotspur rode their luck before South Korean forward Son Heung-min (above) earned them a 1-0 victory over bottom club Crystal Palace to consolidate their place in the Premier League’s top four yesterday.

Mauricio Pochettino’s sidefound Palace a tough nut to crack at Wembley and could have been behind before Son hit the winner midway through the second half.

Tottenham remained in third position with 23 points having won five of their last six league games.

Palace have four points from 11 games but could count themselves unfortunate as Scott Dann was twice denied by Tottenham’s debutant keeper Paulo Gazzaniga while Wilfried Zaha wasted a great chance shortly before Spurs scored.

Gazzaniga also saved well from former Tottenham player Andros Townsend early in the second half while Son could have given a nervy Tottenham breathing space but dragged a good chance wide.

With keeper Hugo Lloris and his deputy Michel Vorm both unable to start, Pochettino handed a first appearance to Argentina’s Gazzaniga.

The 25-year-old grabbed his chance, making crucial saves to earn the Man-of-the-Match vote.

The second half was more open and Palace grew in confidence after Townsend took advantage of a defensive error to force another great save from the home keeper.

Zaha should have punished Spurs when he was clean through but, after going round a poorly-positioned Gazzaniga, he shot wide.

A few minutes later Harry Kane played in Danny Rose whose shot was blocked. The ball fell to Son on the edge of a crowded area and he curled a delightful shot past Julian Speroni. –