Tottenham Hotspur edged their way past yet another opponent in nervy fashion this evening as they clinched a 1-0 win away to Crystal Palace.
Spurs enjoyed the vast majority of the ball but found it tricky to break down a resilient Palace defence.
In the end it took a second half header from man of the match Juan Foyth to take all three points, continuing Spurs’ best ever Premier League start.
Here are five things we learned from the win:
Foyth is class
You can see why young Juan Foyth is so highly rated by both club and country. The defender has featured twice for Spurs in the space of a week, as well as being called up to his second consecutive Argentina squad. Foyth absolutely class today as he picked up the match winner, and man of the match award, putting his troubles at Wolves behind him.
The squad is together
After Foyth’s goal, you could see exactly what it meant to the squad as a whole. Every single player barring the goalkeeper surrounded the young Argentine with broad smiles plastered across their faces. More fuss was made over Foyth’s goal than some far more crucial strikes against far bigger teams, purely because of the young man’s troubles recently. He gave away two penalties against Wolves, but bounced back superbly today.
The Eriksen spark was missing
Spurs were just missing that creative spark this evening, as they were unable to find that final ball to unlock the Palace defence. With Tottenham winning all three points, the decision to rest playmaker Eriksen looks like a good one, but it could have easily gone the other way. Tottenham simply don’t look the same without him and will be glad to have him back to full fitness.
Tottenham need that killer instinct
Spurs have been missing that killer instinct for much of this season, winning the majority of their games by a solitary goal. If it were Manchester City up against Wolves last week, they would have kicked on and won by five or six. It just seems as if Tottenham are a little bit nervous of their own late defensive frailties at the moment, but once they find more confidence they should be a force this season.
Best start to a season
Tottenham have now taken 27 points from their first 12 goals, continuing their best ever start to a Premier League season. The remarkable thing is how average the performances have been from Pochettino’s men. For the first time in a long time, they have been winning ugly consistently. I can’t see Spurs doing anything but improving for the remainder of the season, which should begin to worry their rivals.
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