Koreans in Europe: Son Heung-min scores as Spurs beat Palace 3-1

Tottenham Hotspur struck three times in the dying minutes of a game against Crystal Palace on Saturday as Timo Werner, Cristian Romero and Son Heung-min combined to turn a 1-0 win into a 3-1 loss for the visitors at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Tottenham's Son Heung-min celebrates scoring his side's third goal during a Premier League match against Crystal Palace at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Saturday. [AP/YONHAP]

Tottenham Hotspur struck three times in the dying minutes of a game against Crystal Palace on Saturday as Timo Werner, Cristian Romero and Son Heung-min combined to turn a 1-0 win into a 3-1 loss for the visitors at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

It started off as a fairly quiet London derby, Crystal Palace holding off Spurs for the first half without any real issue and then pounding on an opportunity just before the hour to take a 1-0 lead. Eberechi Eze provided that goal, drawing a free kick and then slotting it into the top corner.

Tottenham responded 15 minutes later, Werner recording his first goal since joining Spurs on loan in January.

That goal — a cross from Brennan Johnson that Werner slotted into the net — started a flurry of action for Spurs, Romero nodding in a James Maddison cross three minutes later and Son sealing the deal with a clean counterattack eight minutes after that.

Son’s goal was his first since returning from the Asian Cup, which took him out of the Spurs squad for three games in January and February. He picked up his assist in his first game back on Feb. 10, adding the goal in his third game back on Saturday.

The result, a solid 3-1 win for Spurs, is more impressive than the reality, Tottenham having lost a lot of the excitement of the early days of the season and looking increasingly scrappy as the Premier League enters the final stretch.

A win is a win, however — asked what the key moment of the game was, captain Son simply replied “three points” — and the result keeps Spurs within five points of the top four with a game in hand over fourth-place Aston Villa.

“I was pleased with the whole game,” Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou said. “First half was a difficult half for us because when a team sits so deep and we had to initiate the play, we had to stay really patient and make sure you work the opposition and I felt we did that. We didn't create a lot but we had a couple of great chances.

“You need that goal to break open a team that is going to sit so deep. I still felt like we were putting enough work into them that at some point we would be able to break them.

“Obviously we conceded which was disappointing because apart from the free-kick they didn't really threaten us at all. You're looking for a reaction and I thought the reaction was outstanding. They just had a real belief today in our processes and our football and I'm really pleased with the outcome.”

Son appeared in Saturday’s game with the fingers on his right hand still bandaged up, a remnant of the Asian Cup where he was reportedly injured in a physical altercation with Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in.

The pair have confirmed they had some sort of confrontation and have since buried the hatchet, although neither have commented on whether there was a physical element to the disagreement or how Son’s fingers were injured.

Postecoglou summed up the situation his post-match press conference.

“It's a finger, even if he loses it, it won't really matter. He can still play, he's fine.”

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]