Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Crystal Palace: Heung-Min Son strike keeps hosts in touch with leaders Man City

Heung-Min Son's second-half strike saw Tottenham Hotspur beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at Wembley as Mauricio Pochettino's side stayed in touch with Man City at the top of the Premier League.

The South Korea forward scored the winner midway through the second period with a well-struck shot from the edge of the area. However, Palace will feel aggrieved to have left the home of football pointless after spurning a number of presentable chances, while third-choice Tottenham goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga was also called upon to make several impressive saves. 

Player ratings

Tottenham: Gazzaniga (9), Aurier (6), Sanchez (8), Vertonghen (8), Rose (8), Dier (7), Winks (6), Sissoko (6), Eriksen (6), Son (7), Kane (6)

Subs: Davies (6), Dembele (6), Llorente (6)

Palace: Speroni (7), Ward (6), Dann (8), Sakho (8), Fosu-Mensah (6), Loftus-Cheek (6), Cabaye (6), Milivojevic (6), Schlupp (6), Townsend (8), Zaha (8)

Subs: Sako (6)

Man of the match: Paulo Gazzaniga

Spurs - whose injury-hit side failed to hit the heights of their Champions League win over Real Madrid in midweek - remain third in the table, while Palace are still bottom, five points from safety, after an eighth league match on the road without scoring. In a cagey and closely contested first period, it was actually the visitors who had the best opening of the half when, nine minutes before the interval, Scott Dann rose highest to meet Yohan Cabaye's right-wing corner.

However, Gazzaniga - only playing after injuries to both Hugo Lloris and Michel Vorm - reacted brilliantly to keep the defender's header out as the teams went in level at the break. It was more of the same in the second half as the Argentine first turned Andros Townsend's goalbound effort behind, before then reacting brilliantly to keep out Luka Milivojevic's close-range header. The visitors only had themselves to blame though for not opening the scoring just before the hour-mark after another lightning break involving Townsend, who released Zaha on goal.

However, after rounding the advancing Gazzaniga, the playmaker missed the target with the goal gaping, and Roy Hodgson's men soon paid for their profligacy as Spurs took the lead. The home side's 64th-minute winner was a little fortunate, coming as it did after a number of ricochets in the box, although Son still had a lot to do to beat Julian Speroni with a delightful left-footed curler.

From SkySport