Lilywhites ease past the Eagles
Written By: Robert Halter
Tottenham Hotspur had won their last eight Premier League encounters against Crystal Palace. In the opening fifteen seconds, Serge Aurier won the ball for Harry Winks, who blazed over. In less than a minute, Christian Eriksen’s low cross was struck by Heung-Min Son into Eagles shot stopper, Vincente Guaita. During the fifth minute, from a delivery by Toby Alderweireld, flicking out his right boot, Harry Kane, flopped the ball into the clutches of Guaita. During the ninth minute, Moussa Sissoko bundled over Jordan Ayew, and from a free kick by Luka Milivojevic, a pull back by Cheikhou Kouyate, was cleared away from Alderweireld. But it was Spurs that opened their account in the tenth minute, from a lofted ball by Alderweireld, which went past Mamadou Sakho, before Son turned away from Gary Cahill, before striking past Guaita, into the bottom right corner. During the fourteenth minute, Alderweireld combined with Kane, who tried to slip the ball into Son, but Guaita, was there to smother the ball. Four minutes later, after Winks linked up play, from Eriksen’s neat touch, Kane curled the ball, past the right frame of the goal. In the nineteenth minute, after Andros Townsend was unable to get his shot away, Ayew then scuffed his effort directly into Hugo Lloris. But in the next couple of minutes, from Sissoko’s measured pass, Son played the ball over to Aurier, whose low shot deflected into the net off Patrick van Aanholt. It swiftly became three nil, with Eriksen and Winks combining, before a dipping cross from Aurier was met with a low volley by Son, into the bottom left corner, in the twenty third minute. Soon after, Kane set up Son, but he slipped over in range of the target. On twenty six minutes, from a corner by Erik Lamela, a looping header from Winks, went over. In a four footed prong attack, Sissoko started the move, as Son’s incisive pass was put over by Kane, and Lamela slid the ball into the goal, off Guaita, to put Spurs four goals to the good, in the forty second minute. The Eagles right to reply was led by Wilfried Zaha’s rising strike which was caught by Lloris, after Ayew had found Zaha in space. Winks soon got cautioned for pulling the arm of Zaha. At the start of the second half, Son set up Winks, whose low drive was turned behind by the hand of Guaita, at full stretch. The next yellow card went to Danny Rose for a late challenge on Zaha, and from the free kick by Milivojevic, a downward header by Cahill was first pushed and then punched away from Lloris, in the fifty first minute. Jan Vertonghen got the next card for clipping the back heels of Ayew. Another Spurs card went to Eriksen for pulling Zaha, before Ayew got booked for pushing Winks, for the first Eagles caution. In the sixty second minute, Eriksen’s threaded pass went just past the lunging Lamela, in the danger zone. Then as a loose ball from van Aanholt failed to find Sakho, Son ran through and at an acute angle on the right, lobbed the ball into the outside netting. Winks later made way for Tanguy Ndombele. On sixty nine minutes, from a delivery by Rose, a shot by Aurier was shielded behind off van Aanholt. The Eagles then switched Ayew with Christian Benteke. In the seventy first minute, from a Son assist, Lamela edged the ball past the goal. Kouyate later went down in a heap following a tangle with Ndombele, before Spurs took off Rose for Ben Davies, and the Eagles then replaced Kouyate with James McCarthy. Near the end, Lucas Moura took over from Kane and Townsend was taken off for Victor Camarasa. In the eighty seventh minute, from Benteke’s pass, Zaha rolled the ball into Lloris. Next in the book was Joel Ward for barging over Moura, but Eriksen’s free kick was caught by Guaita. Another card went to Milivojeivc for dragging down Lamela, but Eriksen struck the free kick over the bar. At the end, Milivojevic put Benteke through, but he squandered the chance and Lloris picked up his tame effort, as the Spurs first half goals had left the Eagles with a heavy defeat.