Tottenham returned after the World Cup winless in two, and pressure was starting to compile. Tonight, they were scintillating in South London and swept past Palace with four second-half goals.
Unconvincing was the word to describe Spurs' performances against Brentford and Aston Villa, meaning they arrived at Selhurst Park in desperate need to win. The first half was largely uneventful and met the theme of the previous games where Spurs were weak and unable to control the game. Going in at half time with the score-line goalless after Jordan Ayew's chance which was well saved by Hugo Lloris.
In the second half, Spurs came to life. Palace applied good pressure at the end of the first half and that carried into the early stages of the second half. However, a quick Spurs counter attack saw Perisic's cross reach Harry Kane's head at the back post to finally give Tottenham the lead after a 10 game drought without scoring first.
It was a quickfire second for Spurs, and that early goal gave a platform for them to control. Harry Kane made it a brace after a superb touch and finish. Truthfully, Kane was utterly fantastic in this game and was largely the winning factor.
The striker is now two goals off of Jimmy Greaves' record, and two Premier League goals off of the 200 mark, which has only ever been reached by Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer.
Matt Doherty curled in the 3rd after more Kane involvement, his first since April in the league. Heung-Min Son finally scored his 4th Premier League goal of the season after a spectacular Kane assist, the confidence boost that he urgently needed before the upcoming games.
The most impressive part of the game was Spurs' control and creativity which had been tough to find in the absence of Dejan Kulusevski. Some noteworthy performances were Hugo Lloris, who avenged his mistake in the previous game, Bryan Gil, who for once displayed his quality with his intelligent defending, including an assist for Kane's second and Pape Sarr, who showed strong ball retention and physical levels.
The Portsmouth game is next, but Spurs' next two league games are against the top 2 currently, and firstly a North London Derby at home. This was the big result and confidence boost that Spurs needed.
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