Tottenham Hotspur escaped with 3 points as a late Harry Kane goal helped them win against Crystal Palace in a hard-fought battle at Selhurst Park. The win takes us to 4th spot and we are 2 points ahead of Chelsea now, who lost to Manchester United earlier in the day.
As far as the match is concerned, Palace were pushing hard for a draw and they did dominate us on certain occasions. But ultimately, the quality of Mauricio Pochettino’s midfielders and Kane’s brilliance saved the day.
One of the many issues in this game was Serge Aurier’s performance. He took foul throws during the match and his ineffective display earned him the ire of a lot of fans. There were a lot of missed chances though and we even had an initial scare as Palace looked set to score from an early corner.
However, as the game wore on, our midfielders truly stepped up and helped maintain the pressure on the home side. Even Hugo Lloris put in a crucial performance as he kept Patrick Van Aanholt at bay, which in retrospect, could have cost us 3 points.
If Lloris was solid at one end of the pitch, Wayne Hennessey was quite a force to be reckoned with on the other side. He blocked quite a few efforts from Tottenham players, much to the delight of the Palace fans. The Eagles looked a lot more confident after the break but Spurs dominated possession throughout the game. However, the club’s frustration at being unable to score was evident enough and a lot of our players tried to break the deadlock only to fail.
That said, Kane stepped up and took responsibility once more for us as he smashed a brilliant goal in the dying minutes of the game to seal a victory at a time when the game looked set to end in a goalless draw. It is unfortunate for Palace since they fought so hard to put up a good show but Tottenham fans can get a good night’s sleep.
Here’s how the fans reacted to the win.
Aurier is having one of those games. His crossing has been poor, he's become the only player in Premier League history to take three foul throws in a game and he fluffed a big chance there by standing on the ball. On the plus side, he made a top tackle on Sorloth in the Spurs box
— Alasdair Gold (@AlasdairGold) February 25, 2018
I love you @HKane 150 goals for Spurs. One season wonder? #COYS #CRYTOT
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) February 25, 2018
https://twitter.com/Yonny1975/status/967762954409185281
#thfc FT: 1-0 to Spurs. It wasn't pretty but it's job done and, after a couple of big misses, Kane is the hero with his late winner. Tottenham move up to 4th and can now see who drops points – Man United, Chelsea or both – this afternoon.
— Ben Pearce (@BenPearceSpurs) February 25, 2018
What a nice day this is . Spurs get last minute winner and the sun’s out. Would be unreasonable to ask for more . Wouldn’t it?
— Jah Wobble (@realjahwobble) February 25, 2018
https://twitter.com/JblincoTHFC/status/967760171136114688
Loads of Spurs fans tweeting 'Serge Aurier's shit' or equivalent like they've not watched the transformation of Danny Rose, Ben Davies and Kieran Trippier under Pochettino. Never underestimate the & whisperer. Aurier's arguably starting from a higher base level, bodes well.
— Chris Miller (@WindyCOYS) February 25, 2018
https://twitter.com/mpc1970/status/967759728796413952
https://twitter.com/Verttonghen/status/967756585962475521
The idiots are out of the asylum again, always looking for the worst things they can find.
We need to keep Trippier as fresh and injury-free as possible, leading up to the Juventus game, since Aurier earned himself a ridiculous suspension for that one. Poch has already promised that practicing to take throw-ins will be incorporated into training, every day, this week. Aurier has made foul throws before this one, as well. He has zero technique and I doubt he was ever asked to take them at PSG. That said, why didn’t one of his teammates step up when it became obvious he was out of his depth? If, for example, Christian Eriksen kept hitting the wall with his free kicks, one would expect Harry Kane, Eric Lamela, Eric Dier, Lucas Moura, Kieran Trippier or Ben Davies to step up. Someone should have helped Aurier out and saved the inquest for the dressing room.