Tottenham mark new chapter with a win as Heung-Min Son and Christian Eriksen combine to sink Crystal Palace
Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Crystal Palace: The hosts were far from the best but on a night in which Spurs' new stadium was finally opened to the world, Mauricio Pochettino's men delivered
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Your support makes all the difference.A wait has ended, and a weight has gone with it. Tottenham found their way home and are thereby up and running again. This first match at the stunning new stadium also brought a first win in six matches, even if the 2-0 win against Crystal Palace was a lot less than stunning.
It was instead rather attritional, and never the kind of carnival the joyous opening ceremony suggested it might be. That was somewhat inevitable because of both the opposition and the very nature of the occasion, but won’t matter in the long run, nor in the records.
What really matters is that they opened the ground with a win, and also went one step closer to ensuring it stays a Champions League stadium for next season by staying in the top four.
What matters even more was that they fought their way through a defiant Palace, and out of this recent bad run.
Through that, the scorer of the first goal could not have been much more fitting. It is the relentlessness of Heung-Min Son that has characterised much of their season so far, and it was that which characterised the famous first goal at this stadium before Christian Eriksen made that first win secure.
A beaming-again Mauricio Pochettino will know not to take it for granted.
There was immense pressure because they simply had to win this game, and not just to mark the opening of the new stadium. A sixth game without a win would have seen that story quickly forgotten, to instead be replaced by the tale of a crisis. That wasn't to be, but not without some hard effort.
One of the under-appreciated challenges with nights like this for the team involved is if they don’t get that early goal. Then, all of that energy tends to suddenly go nowhere and an occasion can develop into a struggle.
That is what happened, with all of it exacerbated by Spurs’ recent form and Palace’s recent away record. Hodgson’s side had claimed 13 points from the last 18 available on the road, with the only defeat that narrow 4-3 loss to Liverpool. In that, they were probably the worst possible opposition for such an occasion, at the worst possible time, and against the worst possible manager. Hodgson would doubtless have taken some joy in, well, taking the joy out of Spurs’ big night.
His tactics were just never going to let this become “the party” that Pochettino had promised beforehand.
It was going to be a battle.
That was signalled when Dele went in fairly abrasively on Luka Milivojevic in the first half. He was booked for that and somewhat lucky not to become the player to receive the first red card at this stadium, with that certainly the feeling when he went down rather easily in the box moments later. Andre Marriner, however, waved play on.
That was something Palace were making difficult to do, and it was hard not to think some of Dele’s actions stemmed from a certain frustration. You could feel it in the crowd. There were periods before the opening goal when the otherwise boisterous home crowd went quiet as they tensely waited for the moment, only to get mocked by the away fans chanting “Is this the Emirates?”
Spurs had so much of the ball and so much of the play, but not much to show for it. They best they could offer were long shots and set-pieces. It was just too difficult to get in behind Palace’s defence.
Hodgson’s narrow formation was naturally squeezing the space. That is an approach that has brought a lot of success against the top six this season, but has always carried a certain risk.
It can be susceptible to surging wide players, if you just get the right break. That was precisely what happened.
The problem, however, stemmed from the centre. After his side had been so tough to break down, Milivojevic too easily lost the ball to Eriksen, who immediately found Son in so much space outside.
The South Korean cut inside and, with so many Palace players trying to get across to block the shot, his effort cannoned off Milivojevic. The touch didn’t matter. All that mattered was that it went in.
That it happened right in front of the spectacular South Stand, already renamed the White Wall, made it all the more special.
It was the goal they’d been waiting for. It was the release they’d been waiting for.
And not just for the team. Also for Eriksen.
On 80 minutes, he got his first goal since 10 February, which also happened to be the date of their last win in the Premier League.
That bad run has finally been ended. That wait has finally been ended.
The Spurs have come marching home, and started marching up the league again.
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