04 January 2023 , 22:07
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What a time to find their stride again.
What a time for Harry Kane to keep Tottenham ’s top four pulse beating and for Son Heung Min to return to form.
The South Korean’s first Premier League strike since September will do very nicely with Arsenal rolling down the Seven Sisters Road on January 15. Defeat in that showdown is simply not an option. But then with Harry Kane delivering yet again with the club’s backs against the wall, the mood might just have turned for Spurs at the right time.
The England captain’s powered in his 14th and 15th goals of the season with the atmosphere febrile here at Selhurst Park and the away fans not happy with chairman Daniel Levy. Even after Kane’s brace and Matt Doherty’s strike the away fans still responded by chanting for Levy to go.
It was harsh on the Spurs supremo who backed Antonio Conte with £50million Richarlison last summer, along with £25million Yves Bissouma to go with Croatian Serie A winner Ivan Perisic and keeper Fraser Forster. At the time Spurs fans were happy.
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But then bitter rivals Arsenal, sitting pretty at the top of the league, have shown that continued recruitment is everything in the Premier League. Even without star striker Gabriel Jesus, the Gunners are seven points clear of Manchester City and looking good for Champions League football at the very least next season.
Spurs, meanwhile, have become that family in the amazing, refurbished house next door that you can always hear arguing after the football.
Harry Kane returned to form at the perfect time for Tottenham (Getty Images)After setting a new club record for the most points after 10 matches of a Premier League campaign with 23, Spurs had taken only seven points from their seven league games since before this.
All fair comment. But Levy would argue he has spent in the market. That the likes of Inter Milan defender Alessandro Bastoni, pursued last summer by Conte, didn’t want to come. Levy would suggest he can do nothing about Richarlison’s inability to stay fit. Or the untimely injuries to the outstanding Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski.
The way that Kane ripped Palace apart prevented the drama becoming a crisis. Minutes into the restart, the excellent Bryan Gil - earning the praise of the away fans - found Perisic on the left and the Croatian’s cross was nodded in by Kane.
It was all smiles for Antonio Conte after a tough week for the Spurs bossShortly after that, Gil on the right slipped the ball into Kane who drove a diagonal effort across keeper Vicente Guita for 0-2.
Kane, desperate to get Son off the mark, sent the South Korean clear into the box but he couldn’t get his shot away. Instead he teed up Doherty for 0-3. But Son would get the last laugh, ramming home on the volley from a flick on with 18 minutes left.
Palace, a potential banana skin after their win over Bournemouth, were poor. Spurs, rampant, by the end, won’t care. They are back in business.