Sonny: "This is how strong we are"

Was there ever any doubt?

Having scored his first Premier League goal against Palace, the goal that made him the top Asian goalscorer in the Premier League against Palace and then the historic first goal at our new stadium against Palace - all detailed in our feature here - Heung-Min Son did it again on Saturday.

There were no milestones this time around – Sonny’s first goals of the season, numbers 43 and 44 in the Premier League, 68 and 69 in total for us – but the South Korean star really lit the fuse in a game both the players and management knew we had to win.

Sonny charged around everywhere in the opening minutes as our aggressive start rattled Palace.

He opened the scoring on 10 minutes with a switch inside Gary Cahill and reverse finish, Serge Aurier’s cross deflected home off Patrick van Aanholt for 2-0 and Sonny was there again with a classy, volleyed finish from Serge’s cross for 3-0, all inside 23 minutes. Erik Lamela capped the half with the fourth just before the break and that’s how it stayed, job very much done.

“This is a reminder of how strong we are,” said Sonny. “The players should know how strong we are and how we should play. Me as well. We can learn so many things. I hope we can always perform like this and then this season will be really positive.

“I think the players deserved more than three points! We should play like this always. We are really happy to get the three points.”

On his role as chief presser, Sonny said: “As a striker, and I was a striker today, I wanted to help the team. If I get pressure to them they would have to play long, that’s why I wanted to chase them.”

And there was typical modesty about his second goal, our third as he watched Serge’s cross all the way before despatching a controlled volley at the far post.

“It was a little lucky, a great ball from Serge,” he added.

Lucky?

“It is lucky! The cross was great from Serge and I’m really happy for him, he came back in and performed really well. It doesn’t matter who scored, who played well, who didn’t play well, we’re all just happy to win the game. It was a great performance.”