- Gazzaniga the star deputy
- Son scores winner
- Zaha misses golden chance
- Kane wobbled, Dele out
Heung-Min Son’s second half goal was enough to push injury-hit Tottenham Hotspur past Crystal Palace 1-0 at Wembley Stadium early Sunday.
Spurs were without Hugo Lloris, Dele Alli, and Toby Alderweireld for the match but got a star turn from backup keeper Paulo Gazzaniga to aid the effort.
Tottenham remains third, level on points with second place Manchester United, while Palace remains in 20th with four points.
[ MORE: Watch full PL match replays ]
Palace could’ve been ahead inside of three minutes, but Mamadou Sakho instinctively took some mustard off his header attempt against a charging Paulo Gazzaniga.
Dele Alli, Hugo Lloris, and Kieran Trippier were all missing with injury, so Harry Kane’s limping off in the 23rd minute was a scare. Fortunately, he returned to the pitch moments later in a bid to work it out.
Serge Aurier swept a 31st minute cross over the Palace defense to a free Danny Rose, who missed badly.
Gazzaniga made a nice save on Scott Dann’s strong header off a 36th minute corner.
Heung-min Son and Harry Winks had opportunities before halftime, but failed to deliver a goal.
[ MORE: Latest Premier League standings ]
20 - Son Heung-Min is now the all-time highest Asian goalscorer in @premierleague history, with 20 goals. Breakthrough. pic.twitter.com/1pPKqeZPIU
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 5, 2017
[ MORE: Full lineups, stats, box score ]
Andros Townsend forced Gazzaniga into a quality save after an Aurier giveaway just after the break.
And the best chance, cued up again by Aurier, was for Zaha, who dribbled around Gazzaniga but dragged a jumping shot wide of the yawning cage.
Moments later, Gazzaniga palmed away a back post header from Luka Milivojevic.
Spurs took advantage of the let-off, with Son scoring a lovely goal after Danny Rose’s effort was blocked by Palace. Son often slips under the radar, but is a special talent.
Son then missed a break in the 82nd minute, fooling Julian Speroni but hitting his shot off the outside of the net.
