Sonny on Brennan: “I told him, ‘make sure you are ready, you will make a difference’”

Heung-Min Son paid tribute to the impact of Brennan Johnson off the bench after he helped lay the foundations for our comeback victory against Palace on Saturday.

Entering the fray on 63 minutes with Palace just having taken the lead, Brennan took up a position wide right, with Deki Kulusevski moving centrally and James Maddison slightly deeper alongside Yves Bissouma.

It wasn’t long before he angled Timo Werner’s cross just over and on 77 minutes, the lively Wales international initially robbed Joachim Andersen on the touchline, then came out on top of a 50-50 with Jefferson Lerma before squaring for Timo to plant home for 1-1.

Cuti Romero soon headed us into a 2-1 lead before Brennan again won possession on 88 minutes, this time on the left, the ball cannoned to send Sonny clear from halfway, and the skipper delivered a trademark slotted finish to secure the victory.

Sonny was asked about Brennan’s impact on our Review Show, and told us: “That’s what we need, especially with how we want to play, with high intensity. So, whoever is coming from the bench, has to make an impact.

“Brennan did that. He made two amazing assists. I like this guy... I love this guy! I just want to help him as much as I can. Even at the start of the game I told him, ‘just make sure you are ready, you will make a difference when you come on’. That’s what we need.

“Brennan did a fantastic job and I want to give him a big hug. Okay, the goals are missing, but I sure with the way he works for the team the goals will come automatically, I’m 100 per cent sure.”

As for the overall performance - the seventh win in our last 11 Premier League matches (two defeats in that time) - Sonny added: “We tried to show our football... intensity, the joy, the hard work, these were all key words.

"We showed really good character, especially when we went 1-0 down. It was a good performance, for me. In the first they sat back, their plan was until early second half worked well for them, but we stayed calm. We needed one clear chance, that’s what Timo did with the equaliser and, yes, very happy.”