Heung-min Son led a four-star first half as Tottenham Hotspur sure looked “re-focused” in their 4-0 demolition of Crystal Palace at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
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Erik Lamela scored from a Harry Kane assist and Serge Aurier helped produce a Palace own goal to go with a Son brace.
Spurs move onto eight points, good for third place at this point in the weekend, while Palace stays on seven.
3 things we learned
- Smooth Son -- The beauty of South Korea’s Son is how simply he makes it all look. Yes, he’s got power and industry, but the dribble on his first goal and back post smash on his second were both made to look far easier than the degree of difficulty. What a marvelous, often overlooked star.
- Winks the secret weapon -- What a job Spurs have done developing Harry Winks, who is the sound holding midfielder the club has craved for some time. He’s calm, and was easily the top performing non-scorer when he left the game for Tanguy Ndombele. When both are part of the same midfield with Christian Eriksen, you’ll see the Spurs you’ve been expecting this season (which is what you saw Saturday as well).
- Eagles defense rusty -- Mamadou Sakho looked a bit off his game in his first start of the season, and both Gary Cahill and Patrick van Aanholt also had poor moments as Spurs ran rampant. Lots of work to do here.
Man of the Match: Heung-min Son
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Vicente Guaita needed to make a first minute save on Heung-min Son, as Spurs came flying out of the starting gates.
Son was the one to put Spurs ahead in the 10th minute, cooking Mamadou Sakho and Gary Cahill before cutting the ball back across his body to beat Guaita.
Son set up Spurs second goal, as did a Palace defender. The South Korean sent Serge Aurier into the right side of the box, and the Frenchman’s cross deflected off Patrick van Aanholt and past Guaita.
The third was a love letter to our sport. Harry Winks turned a Christian Eriksen layoff into an inch-perfect ball to Aurier on the right, who sent his assist over the Palace defense for a lethal finish from Son.
It was 4-0 before halftime, as Son played Kane down the right and the striker crossed through a sea of Palace defenders for Lamela to pass home.
Wilfried Zaha stung a shot at Hugo Lloris just before halftime, Palace’s only bit of danger.
