Sun 26 December 2021, 18:15
Tottenham HotspurAntonio Conte again praised the squad after a convincing 3-0 win against Crystal Palace on Boxing Day.
A quick two-goal blast from Harry Kane (32 minutes) and the outstanding Lucas Moura (34), quickly followed by Wilfried Zaha’s red card, paved the way for a comfortable afternoon at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with 60 per cent possession and 17-4 efforts at goal. Heung-Min Son wrapped it up from Lucas’ second assist on 74 minutes.
The win extended our current run of six matches unbeaten in the Premier League under Antonio, including four wins and a draw against Liverpool on home soil. It also extended our incredible record on Boxing Day - unbeaten since 2003, a run of 15 matches, winning 12.
“It was a good performance against a team that is not easy to play, with their own identity,” said Antonio. “We started the game a bit slowly, despite this, we created chances, but when we scored the first and second goals, it was more simple.
“We took confidence and I think we could score more in this game. I’m happy for our strikers, because they scored and I’m happy for Steven Bergwijn because when he came in (for Harry, 64 minutes), he played very well, the same for Bryan Gil and Tanguy.
“I repeat, I need to involve all the players, for us, that’s very important in this project. We have to exploit the whole squad and to improve our players.”
Lucas certainly proved the catalyst for the win. His break forward and cross set-up Harry’s opener, a towering header over Joachim Andersen made it 2-0 and a pinpoint cross was tucked home by Sonny doe the third - a goal and two assists, making it three goals in his last four starts.
Antonio added: “Lucas is an important player for us, he has a lot of quality, he’s good with the first control to beat a man, he’s good to make assists and also, he can feel the box more, because he’s a good header. I’m happy because he’s performing very well, Lucas, and he has to continue in this way. He can improve a lot.”
