Five things we learned as Tottenham beat Crystal Palace 2-0 in the Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur have made it three wins in a row in the Premier League for the first time in two years with their latest victory, a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Let us take a look at five things we learned from the match: Tottenham climb up to eighth in the Premier League Yes, for the first time in a long while, Tottenham Hotspur are not in the bottom half of the Premier League table.
Instead, they are now in eighth place, thanks to the Lilywhites securing three wins on the bounce in the Premier League. All three victories so far this season have weirdly come against sides whose names begin with the letter C, with Tottenham starting their winning run against Coventry before beating Chelsea and now Crystal Palace.
Tonight's victory was a slightly different type of win, with Spurs having to play against ten men for most of the match after Jean-Philippe Mateta was sent off for a reckless challenge. The Lilywhites stepped up superbly and made their one-man advantage count to secure the victory.
Up next for Spurs is Leeds United, and the hope will be that they secure yet another victory as they close in on the European places. He set Spurs on their way with a lovely assist from a corner, which met Archie Gray at the back post.
The winger could also have had a goal of his own had he managed to slot in from point-blank range following a lovely bit of play down the left by youngster Luca Williams-Barnett, who made his Premier League debut. Aside from his goal contribution, though, Kudus was relentless on the right, often getting the better of Tyrick Mitchell and the Palace defenders who looked to double up on the wide forward.
Kudus' underlying numbers from the game speak for themselves, with the winger managing the most touches in the opposition box while also hitting the highest top speed in the match at 36.2km/h. Add to that, he also created three chances, the second-most in the match.
This is exactly what Spurs were missing during the six months he was out at the start of the year, and with him now getting into his stride, the hope is that he continues to produce more of these displays. Spurs must learn to make their pressure pay Tottenham definitely dominated, and on the balance of play, they could well have scored more than the two goals they managed.
Both goals came from headers following set pieces, and that might well be a cause for concern for De Zerbi and his men who took over 30 shots tonight. It shows that there is still room for improvement when it comes to putting the ball in the back of the net.
Not once did the likes of Solanke and Marmoush look like they were going to score, as clear-cut chances were hardly created for them. While the goalscoring woes are behind them, with Spurs having scored in their last five outings, there is no denying that the next step will be about creating better chances for the men up front.