Tottenham Hotspur 4 (1) v (1) 1 Crystal Palace
25, 49 Bale (both assist Kane) Benteke (assist Milivojevic)
52 and 76 Kane (assist Son)
Yellows: Doherty, Vinicius Ayew, Cahill, Riedewald
Played Sunday 7 March 2021 at an empty Tottenham Hotspur Stadium N17.
Two goals each from Gareth Bale and Harry Kane gave Tottenham Hotspur their second win in the Crystal Palace and Fulham Premier London Derbies (PLDs) triangle of fixtures. That makes it 10 wins out of the last 12 PLDs matches for Spurs against Palace. The Eagles were still in the game at half-time when a classic Christian Benteke header from Luka Milivojevic’s cross equalized Gareth Bale’s six-yard box opener. In the second half Bale and Harry Kane took over with the Welsh international Captain heading in an assist from the England Captain and then Kane scoring a world class third goal from the edge of the 18-yard area after a move involving all Spurs outfield players. Kane’s second was a close range header from Heung-Min Son’s headed assist. That puts Kane top of the Premier League (PL) goals and assists chart (16 goals, 13 assists) and Son third (13 and 9). Palace did threaten to score a second goal at one stage but were well beaten in the end.
Mention must be made of the third member of the PLDs triangle Fulham for their heroic win (0-1) at Anfield Road against Liverpool also on Sunday 7 March 2021. That made it 6 defeats and 2 draws in their last 8 home games and the most recent home win for the fading Champions was 2-1 v Spurs on 16 December 2020!
Next up for the PLDs matches is the always important North London derby at the Emirates Stadium between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday 14 March 2021. Historical form favours the home team: 1-1 in 2016-17; 2-0 in 2017-18; 4-2 in 2018-19; and 2-2 in 2019-20. Currently Spurs have a 7-points lead in the PL over the Gunners but both Clubs need these 3 to keep climbing the table so expect a toe-to-toe contest. They are both still in the Europa League and well placed after the first leg matches on Thursday 11 March 2021 so there may be another North London derby to come this season.
Until next time, “Keep Safe” and enjoy your football, Andrew at PLDs.