Tottenham produced a breathtaking performance to brush aside Crystal Palace and register their first victory since the opening day of the season.
All four Spurs goals came in the first half, with Son Heung-min the shining light in a scintillating attacking display by Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
The South Korea forward capitalised on a defensive lapse from returning Palace defender Mamadou Sakho to fire the hosts into an early lead, before visiting left-back Patrick van Aanholt inadvertently directed Spurs right-back Serge Aurier’s cross into his own net.
Son made it 3-0 moments later, connecting beautifully with another Aurier cross to fire a crisp volley beyond the stranded Vicente Guaita.
Erik Lamela finished off another flowing move involving Son and Harry Kane to complete the scoring with three minutes of the first period remaining.
Son and Lamela went close to adding further gloss to the scoreline after the restart, while Gary Cahill and Cheikhou Kouyate forced Hugo Lloris into action at the other end.
Spurs hit their stride
Pochettino revealed he held an hour-long meeting with his squad this week in order to “refocus” his players’ minds following an indifferent start to the campaign.
Spurs had won only once in the league this season before today – at home to Aston Villa in their opening game of the campaign – while midfielder Christian Eriksen was heavily linked with a move away from the club before the end of the European transfer window.
Whatever Pochettino told his players in the meeting, it worked.
The hosts roared out of the traps at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, overwhelming a Palace side who had conceded only two league goals before the game.
Son, who scored Spurs’ first goal at their new stadium against Palace in April, opened the scoring with a crisp finish after Sakho misjudged Toby Alderweireld’s raking cross-field pass.
Spurs, who had fallen behind in both their home games so far this season, continued to apply pressure on the Palace rearguard and doubled their lead when Aurier’s cross from the right was directed past Guaita by the unfortunate Van Aanholt.
Aurier, making his first start since February, was left in far too much space as he set up the hosts’ second goal, and Palace failed to learn their lesson as the Ivory Coast defender produced another teasing ball which Son volleyed brilliantly past Guaita at the far post.
Son was at the forefront of all that was good about Spurs’ performance, starting the move that led to Lamela prodding Kane’s low cross beyond the Palace goalkeeper two minutes before the interval.
A day to forget for Palace
Prior to the game, only Manchester City (52) and Liverpool (51) had collected more Premier League points than Roy Hodgson’s side since 2 February, when the Eagles started a good run of form with a 2-0 win at home to Fulham.
They have taken significant scalps away from Selhurst Park in that period, including a backs-to-the-wall 2-1 victory at Manchester United last month – their eighth win in 12 Premier League away matches.
However, Saturday’s defeat extends their winless league run against Spurs to nine matches.
Hodgson’s side were second best from start to finish as the defensive organisation that earned them that impressive victory at Old Trafford appeared to desert them.
France defender Sakho – making his first appearance since having knee surgery – had a poor game and was at fault for Spurs’ opening goal.
There may have been an element of fortune about the hosts’ second, but Spurs cut through their opponents with embarrassing ease in the build-up to their third and fourth goals, with Son and Lamela both left unmarked at the far post.
Palace rarely threatened at the other end as Lloris made routine saves from Cahill and Kouyate in the first half, before thwarting Wilfried Zaha in the second.
