Spurs left it late again as three goals in the final 13 minutes saw them come from behind to eventually see off Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace 3-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Ange Postecoglou’s side produced a comeback win for the fifth time this season as they once again did things the hard way, having trailed to Eberechi Eze’s wonderful free-kick moments before the hour mark.
The hosts should have been ahead by then when Timo Werner wasted a glorious chance when played clean through, but they struggled to create against Glasner’s dogged visitors until they eventually pulled level.
Brennan Johnson’s sheer determination saw him beat Joachim Andersen out wide and allowed him space to tee-up a simple finish for Werner to level with his debut Tottenham goal.
Spurs ended up handing Glasner a harsh welcome to the Premier League when they went in front three minutes later, as Cristian Romero nodded home James Maddison’s brilliant hooked cross.
Heung-Min Son then put the gloss on what had seemed for so long to be a miserable afternoon for Spurs as he raced through late on to seal victory with his first club goal of 2024, and ensure his side would move two points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa.
How Spurs needed Eze wake-up call to earn late victory
Glasner took Palace to north London for his first away game in charge with an unenviable record against Spurs in recent times, having scored only once in their last 10 league visits to their London rivals.
They showed little to suggest this would be any different, though with a renewed defensive solidity which has been sadly lacking this season.
Heung-Min Son wheels away after scoring Spurs’ third goal against Crystal Palace
It was only Werner’s huge miss which threatened that before the break. The German took a superb first touch from Son’s reverse ball over the halfway line and skipped away from the Palace backline and had only Sam Johnstone to beat, but failed to round the Palace goalkeeper who batted away his eventual weak effort.
Spurs returned with the heightened vigour they needed after such a dour first-half showing, and struck the base of the post through Son nine minutes into the interval.
But it was in their brightest spell of the game that Palace would strike. Eze was brought down by a clumsy Rodrigo Bentancur challenge just outside the Spurs box and after dusting himself down, curled a fine effort past Guglielmo Vicario at his near post.
Substitute Johnson should have levelled within five minutes but blasted over from six yards out, though he made amends when turning provider for Werner with some persistent attacking play before squaring for the German to score.
With the wind in Spurs’ sails, Crystal Palace’s ship sunk without trace. Maddison’s outside-of-the-foot cross was the architect of Romero’s close-range second less than three minutes later, and as Palace were forced to push forward they struck again.
Son bounded over the halfway line after an away attack broke down in midfield and made sure he did not make the same mistake as Werner, firing into the far corner to seal yet another comeback victory.
Postecoglou hails ‘outstanding’ Spurs response
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou:
“I was pleased with the whole game. The first half was difficult for us; when a team sits so deep, we have to initiate the play and you have to stay really patient and make sure at least you work the opposition. We did that, we didn’t create a lot, but you need that goal to break open a team who sit so deep.
“I felt we were putting enough work in that we’d be able to break them eventually, and we conceded which was disappointing because apart from that free-kick they didn’t really trouble us.
“You look for a reaction, and that was outstanding. They had a real belief today in our processes and our football.”
Glasner: I thought we would hold on
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner:
“The players did a great job over 60, 70 minutes, stuck to the plan and defended really well for most of the time.
“We could have been a little more confident in possession, but then we scored a really nice free-kick.
“To win here, you must play perfectly, almost perfect for the whole distance. We couldn’t do that today and have to accept it. We will accept it, and we’ll work on it to keep this level high for the full distance of the game.
“I had the feeling before the equaliser that we could win the game, but in football one situation can switch the game and this happened today. The players did very well for a long time, so we’re disappointed.”
‘Much-needed win for Spurs ahead of huge clash with Villa’
Sky Sports‘ Clinton Morrison on Soccer Saturday:
“I’ve watched a lot of Tottenham this season and they’ve been outstanding, but Palace went there with a gameplan and they frustrated them.
“Eze’s free-kick was fantastic. It had to be something special to beat Vicario because he’s been in good form for Tottenham this season and that goal needed a response.
“Postecoglou brought on Johnson and he made a big impact. Andersen made a mistake trying to play out from the back and Lerma should have made a tackle but missed it, which allowed Johnson to play it across goal for a tap-in for Werner.
“That gave the crowd a lift and that’s what Palace and Oliver Glasner didn’t want to do. Then Spurs go and score a second and when Palace are chasing the game, they get done on the counter-attack. You never thought Son was going to miss when he got into that position.
“In the end, Tottenham got the result and they deserved the three points. They needed to win that because they’ve got a huge game against Aston Villa next week.”
What’s next?
Tottenham go to Aston Villa next Sunday for a top-four place showdown, live on Sky Sports (kick off 1pm).
Crystal Palace host Luton next Saturday (kick off 3pm).
