Image Credit: Evening Standard
By Lee Clow 3 April 2019 | Premier League
After a 5 matches without a win, Tottenham finally return to winnings ways with a victory over Crystal Palace in their first game at their new stadium.
Tottenham christened their new stadium with a convincing win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday night. Before the game, the Tottenham fans, who finally returned home after 689 days, were rewarded with an opening ceremony to glisen the £1 billion stadium.
59,000 fans watched their side put in a commanding performance over their London rivals. Christian Eriksen had an early chance to become the first scorer at the new stadium when his shot was saved well by Vicente Guaita. Harry Kane who was determined to score having scored the last Tottenham goal at White Hart Lane, had a free kick deflect wide late in the first half.
In the second half, Palace, who were non-existent in the first half, finally woke up and questioned Spurs alertness at the back when he fired a curling effort wide. Palace came to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to spoil the party but that was soon gone from their minds when Son Heung Min wrote himself into the history books early on in the second half. Christian Eriksen won the ball deep into Palace’s half and found Son who cut inside and fired low into the bottom corner via a deflection off Luka Milivojevic.
After the goal, Harry Kane squandered a great chance to get on the act after being played in by England teammate Dele Alli. The second goal finally came, 10 minutes from time, when Kane drove into the penalty box and looked to be fouled but Eriksen played to the whistle and bundled the ball home from close range.
Palace had a chance to get a consolation when Zaha tricked his way through the Spurs defence, however his strike was well met by the under fire Lloris. Tottenham held on and kept a clean sheet in their first game back in North London.
The historic and vital win for Spurs ends a run of 5 games without a win, the worst under Pochettino’s time at Spurs, and keeps them ahead of their rivals for the remaining top 4 spots. For Palace, the defeat leaves them in 12th, 11 points of the drop zone.
After the game Pochettino reacted to the occasion his side was involved in. It's a special moment, a special night. I feel and believe it is the best stadium in the world…We knew the game was going to be difficult and tough. You don't know how we're going to react but, playing the way we played in the first half, we were going to score."
Palace boss, Roy Hodgson, said how he and his side can't complain about the result as they came across a good team in Tottenham on a special evening. "I thought that if we'd just kept it 0-0 a bit longer and if 1-0 had come a bit later then in the last 20 minutes they might have had some concerns from our attacking chances."
What’s next?
Tottenham return to their new stadium next Tuesday as they prepare for a huge Champions League clash against Manchester City in the quarter final first leg. Palace are back in action on Saturday when they are away at Newcastle in the Premier League.
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