In what will surely prove to be an important three points over the next few weeks, Tottenham rallied behind keeper Hugo Lloris and new man Son Heung-min to record their second successive Premier League shutout win on Sunday.
Spurs face a daunting schedule looking forward, including fixtures against Arsenal, Manchester City, Swansea and Liverpool.
Pundits will be hard pressed to find serious flaws in Tottenham’s performance as the Lilywhites dictated play for much of the game. What’s most impressive though is the fact that the squad is the youngest starting XI of any Premier League side this season; an average age of only 24 years and 118 days.
Captain Hugo Lloris made a spectacular save in the second-half, just minutes before the home side put together a well-executed (albeit rare) counter attack goal. Manager Mauricio Pochettino stated the obvious after the game, calling Lloris, “world class.”
Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew will perhaps regret his back-handed comments about Spurs this past week as his side hardly seemed interested in achieving a result, let alone a top-ten finish for the year.
Harry Kane was again absent from the score sheet. Those desperate to denounce the 22 year-old will continue to cling to this statistic for as long as they can; however their panic is echoed by no one that is familiar with his play. He now finds himself dropping deeper and deeper into the midfield to receive the ball, due to the fact that he is now frequently double-teamed. This has only created more space for Tottenham’s new, young attack. And with Christian Eriksen returning from injury, there is little worry as to Spurs’ ability to create goals going forward.
Critics should also bear in mind that Kane began his Premier League scoring tally in the month of November last season; he finished with 21 goals in the league, tied for a club record (alongside names like Teddy Sheringham, Jurgen Klinsmann and Gareth Bale).
The fabled North London Derby continues this Wednesday at White Hart Lane in a third-round League Cup match. Arsenal will look to improve upon its recent form of consecutive defeats and substantial accumulation of red cards.
Tottenham team: Lloris, Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies, Dier, Alli, Son (goal, off 79′), Lamela (off 87′), Chadli (off 66′) and Kane
Tottenham bench: Vorm, N’jie (on 79′), Trippier, Townsend, Fazio, Eriksen (on 66′) and Carrol (on 87′).
Crystal Palace team: McCarthy, Kelly, Hangeland, Delaney, Souaré, Cabaye, McArthur (off 76′), Sako (off 84′), Puncheon, Zaha (off 46′) and Bolasie
Crystal Palace bench: Mariappa, Bamford (on 84′), Campbell (on 46′), Hennessey, Lee Chung-yong, Mutch (on 76′) and Ledley
americanfutbolperspective.wordpress.com 