Son’s strike sinks Palace
SON Heung-Min’s second-half goal gave Tottenham Hotspur a nervy 1-0 Premier League victory over bottom club Crystal Palace in a London derby at Wembley Stadium yesterday.
But Mauricio Pochettino’s injuryravaged side failed to hit the heights of Wednesday’s memorable 3-1 Champions League victory over Real Madrid and the title-chasers were fortunate to claim all three points.
Spurs were without two goalkeepers in Hugo Lloris (thigh) and Michel Vorm (knee) so Paulo Gazzaniga came in for his debut.
It was Palace who put Gazzaniga under immediate pressure as the Argentine failed to collect Wilfried Zaha’s cross but Mamadou Sakho failed to capitalise.
At the other end, Harry Kane’s volley lacked the power to beat Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni.
Harry Winks and Kane both received treatment for knocks and that disruption hampered the hosts’ bid to find their tempo.
Tottenham did have most of the possession with Danny Rose heading wide from Serge Aurier’s cross while Kane nodded off target after a deflected Rose cross had fallen nicely to him. Zaha’s pace caused Spurs’ defence problems but Eric Dier was equal to the task with a number of important interceptions.
Spurs had further half chances before the break as Jan Vertonghen’s deflected 20-yard strike came close to deceiving Speroni while Son’s leftfooted shot missed the target when the South Korean was well-placed.
Mousa Dembele came on for a clearly struggling Winks after halftime, putting the midfielder’s participation for England’s upcoming friendlies against Germany and Brazil in doubt following Alli’s withdrawal from the national squad.
It was Palace who started the second half the brighter with Andros Townsend bursting down the left before his shot was pushed away by Gazzaniga, who had started to grow in confidence in the home goal.
The visitors, with just one previous victory to their name all season, really should have taken the lead as Aurier gave the ball away to Townsend. The Palace winger then fed Zaha, who rounded Gazzaniga, only to fire wide of an empty net.
Gazzaniga then came to Tottenham’s rescue again as he kept out Luka Milivojevic’s header from Yohan Cabaye’s corner from point blank range.
But just as it looked like Palace were getting in the ascendancy, Tottenham struck in the 64th minute.
Sissoko’s cross was not properly cleared and Son delightfully picked his spot with a 20-yard left-foot shot that saw him score for the third time this season. — AFP MTHATHA Bucks were held to a 1-1 draw by Super Eagles at the Mthatha Stadium at the weekend to mark their fourth stalemate since they began their National First Division campaign this season.
Bucks assistant coach Sibusiso Mapompo said it was very tough to accept the draw as they dominated throughout and had many chances, especially in the first half.
“We had about three clear-cut chances which we did not use and this has been a problem we’ve been