Antonio’s verdict on Palace: “There were so many positives”

Antonio Conte reeled off the positives after our impressive second half performance and 4-0 win at Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Wednesday evening.

The players found the perfect response to the 2-0 home loss against Villa on New Year’s Day, initially starting well, then soaking up Palace pressure at the end of the first half, before taking the lead early in the second half and running away with it at Selhurst Park.

Harry Kane scored the first two goals – a towering header (48 minutes) and piercing low drive into the corner (53) – to set another record, the most goals in 300 Premier League appearances (297 for us, three on loan at Norwich), his two goals taking him to 198, overtaking Alan Shearer’s 196.

Matt Doherty maintained his form in front of goal after scoring four goals in our three mid-season matches in December with a left-foot curler into the bottom corner for 3-0 before Heung-Min Son put the icing on the cake by returning to the scoresheet for the first time since his double against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League on 12 October.

‘It’s a big result’

Speaking to SPURSPLAY at Selhurst Park, Antonio told us: “It’s a really good performance, a solid performance. Finally, we didn’t concede a goal, scored four goals, important for our strikers, Harry Kane scored twice, and it was important for Sonny to score. For us, we’re talking about an important player and to keep his confidence high is very important. Matthew scored. He also scored in the three friendly games we played during the World Cup. He’s becoming a top scorer.”

Antonio on... the positives

“There were so many positives, especially, I’m happy for the young players. We are facing this period with important players injured and you know very well, to play at this level, you need all the players available. Despite this, tonight, we showed with Gil, he’s going to improve game by game. I was happy for Skippy, very happy for Pape Sarr, his impact was really important. Also, the first game (Premier League debut) for Harvey White.”

Antonio on... spirit

“Now, we have to continue to work, because we know the difficulty is always very high, and in this period, we always need spirit. These players, they are always showing me this spirit. Now, on Saturday, we are going to play in the FA Cup, and it’s important to go into the next round. Then, you know, the next (Premier League) games, because we play Arsenal and Manchester City. I hope to recover all the players and to have all the players available.”