Tottenham 1-0 Crystal Palace: Harry Kane moves closer to PL record
Tottenham 1-0 Crystal Palace: Harry Kane nets solitary goal to become the Premier League’s second all-time highest goalscorer, as Ryan Mason’s side end four-match winless drought
- Tottenham ended their four-game winless drought beating Crystal Palace 1-0
- Kane moved to go second in the Premier League’s all-time scorers rankings
- Ryan Mason’s side now move up to sixth in the table, a point behind Liverpool
In this strange season of such great change and extreme instability some things remain the same and with another goal and another domino drop of records, Harry Kane delivered Tottenham a victory to halt their slide.
Kane’s winning goal in stoppage time at the end of the first half was his 26th of the season in the Premier League, 10 of them headers, a Premier League record, and it eased him clear of Wayne Rooney and a step closer to Alan Shearer at the top of the charts.
It damaged the Crystal Palace revival under his former England boss Roy Hodgson and produced the first win for Ryan Mason in his second spell as acting Spurs head coach.
Kane even stepped in to clear off his own goal line as Palace put their hosts under late pressure, searching for an equaliser at the end of the game, but Mason’s team held firm for a clean sheet, desperately needed after conceding 15 in their previous four games.
With Emerson Royal fit again after injury, Spurs reverted to a back four. It was a bold move less than a fortnight after the unmitigated disaster at Newcastle, where they switched from a back three to a back four and were 5-0 down with less than a quarter of the game gone.
Harry Kane scored the only goal as Tottenham defeated Crystal Palace 1-0 on Saturday
The Spurs striker scored with his head to go second in the league’s all-time top scorers tally
The National Anthem was played before the match to mark the coronation of King Charles III
Interim boss Cristian Stellini abandoned the plan and kept the damage to six but still lost his job next day.
Mason, Stellini’s replacement, stuck with the back-three for two games but won neither so gave it another whirl with Royal and Ben Davies available to provide a greater degree of solidity in the full-back positions.
Pedro Porro eased forward onto the right side of midfield, from where his delivery caused an array of problems for the visitors, and Heung-min Son operated from the left of midfield with a licence to venture up and inside in support of Kane when Spurs were in possession.
Tottenham lost the threat of Son’s pace in behind Palace but took the lead in first half stoppage time when Kane headed in a deep cross from Porro.
Kane linked up with the move in the style of a classic centre forward, receiving a pass from Davies and hooking it wide to the right, then drifting into the penalty area and springing high behind Joel Ward to score from six yards.
The goal was his 209th in the Premier League, easing him into second, clear of Rooney, in his pursuit of Shearer’s record. It was his 10th headed goal of the season, and his 50th over in Premier League London derbies.
Until then, Tottenham had been at their most threatening from corners. Cristian Romero headed against the bar from a Porro inswinger in the 17th minute. Romero went close from another on the half-hour. This time he did not connect with the same power but Ward sliced an attempted clearance and it flashed behind his own goal.
Pedro Porro (left) was a handful throughout the match and teed Kane up for the only goal
The result is a relief for Tottenham who have now ended their four-game winless drought
Son Heung-Min (right) battles to maintain possession during the match, whilst under pressure from Michael Olise (left)
Richarlison (left) squares off against Crystal Palace’s Jeffrey Schlupp during the match
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (left) came close early on in the first half guiding a shot over the bar
It was the first win for interim manager Ryan Mason since his took over from Cristian Stellini
Kane now now overtakes Wayne Rooney in the Premier League’s all-time scorers chart
PLAYER RATINGS
TOTTENHAM (4-4-2): Forster 6; Royal 7, Romero 7.5, Lenglet 7 (Dier 88′), Davies 7; Porro 7.5, Skipp 6, Hojbjerg 6, Son 6.5 (Danjuma 89′); Richarlison 6.5 (Kulusevski 79′), Kane 8.
Subs not used: Austin, Sanchez, Perisic, Moura, Sarr, Bissouma.
Goals: Kane 45+1′.
Bookings: Davies, Lenglet, Forster
Manager: Ryan Mason 7
CRYSTAL PALACE (4-3-3): Johnstone 6.5; Ward 6, Andersen 7, Guehi 7, Mitchell 6.5; Eze 6, Doucoure 6, Schlupp 6 (Hughes 74′); Olise 6.5, Ayew 6 (Edouard 84′), Zaha 6.5.
Substitutes not used: Guaita, Milivojevic, Lokonga, Mateta, Clyne, Richards, Riedewald
Bookings: Schlupp, Ward, Ayew, Zaha, Andersen
Manager: Roy Hodgson 6
Referee: Darren England 6
Player of the Match: TBA
Venue: The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Attendance: 61,039
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg also fired wide after driving forward from midfield and linking up with Kane.
Palace created very little in the first half. Michael Olise wriggled past Clement Lenglet but could not beat Fraser Forster and Joachim Andersen forced another chance over after beating Richarlison to an Olise pass.
The visitors performed with more urgency after Kane’s opener. Wilfried Zaha went close soon after the interval, and Eberechi Eze dragged a chance wide at the end of a swift counterattack, featuring a pass out of defence by Marc Guehi and a run by Zaha.
As they took risks, Palace needed goalkeeper Sam Johnstone to stop them drifting further behind. Johnstone made fine saves from a deflected Porro shot and at the feet of Son, racing clean through onto a long ball out of defence by Romero.
One goal settled it and it came from Kane. Some things don’t change.
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