Moment in time | Dele takes a bow at the Palace, 2016
Dele hadn't taken long to show everyone what he was all about in a Spurs shirt, but this incredible goal at Palace took him to another level.
Signed in January, 2015, loaned back to MK Dons, Dele joined the squad at the start of 2015/16 and by the time we'd made the trip to Selhurst Park in January, he'd scored five goals in 20 Premier League matches and been capped four times by England, scoring a belter against France (and Hugo Lloris) that November.
By then, we knew he was capable of moments of magic, but this was something special, a strike that would later be named Match of the Day's Goal of the Season.
Palace 1-3 Spurs
Selhurst Park
23.01.2016
We'd entered the final few minutes of a thrilling, end-to-end, typical London derby encounter at Selhurst Park when a moment of pure footballing magic that would grace any stage helped drag us over the line to victory.
Palace came after us and took the lead via Jan Vertonghen's own goal on 30 minutes. We fought back and levelled via Harry Kane's header - his 12th goal in 14 Premier League appearances at the time - on 63 minutes.
Then the game went into overdrive. Palace struck the woodwork twice and Hugo Lloris somehow kept Wilfried Zaha at bay from close range.
"It was natural instinct. It was a great ball and I just took a touch and hit it..."
Then the moment. Kane switched play from right to left, Christian Eriksen nodded the ball into Dele, back to goal, 25 yards out. He instinctively flicked the ball over the head of Mile Jedinak, who charged out to close him down and, in the same movement, swivelled and hit a full volley that zipped past Wayne Hennessey. It was a goal that moved boss Mauricio Pochettino to join the celebrations on the touchline.
"It is a goal that will be seen around the world..."
We weren't finished though.
With Palace determined to find an equaliser, we put the game to bed with another beauty as Nacer Chadli curled beyond Hennessey and into the corner from 20 yards in the fifth minute of added time.
"What a beautiful goal from Dele! A piece of art!"
Victory maintained our place in the top four, five points behind leaders Leicester City (47 points), Manchester City and Arsenal (44).
As we all know now, we'd never head the Foxes, who were crowned champions that May. We finished third to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 2010/11.
"I've never scored a goal like that and I haven't seen one as good as that for a long time..."
Dele went on to score 10 goals in 46 appearances in all competitions in that stunning debut season, following up with 22 in 50 as we finished runners-up in 2016/17.
He eventually departed for Everton in 2022, having scored 67 goals in 269 appearances.
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