‘Exquisite’: Sky pundit stunned by £180k-a-week Spurs star who shone alongside Kane tonight

Wed 4 January 2023 21:56, UK

Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith praised Tottenham Hotspur star Ivan Perisic for his display against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night.

Antonio Conte’s Spurs headed to Selhurst Park desperate to get their first post-World Cup win on board.

Tottenham picked up just one point from their first two Premier League matches after Christmas.

And it initially looked like more of the same in SE25 as Spurs laboured against the Eagles in the first half.

Indeed, Tottenham were lucky to get to half-time with the score at 0-0.

However, Spurs were a different proposition in the second half, dominating Palace and racking up the goals.

In the 48th minute, Bryan Gil put the ball wide to Perisic on the left, who crossed to the back post.

Harry Kane was on hand to overpower Joel Ward and head home from close range.

Smith, covering the match on Sky Sports News, loved what he saw from the £180,000-a-week ace.

“It’s an exquisite ball to the far post by Perisic,” he said (4/1/23, 21:07).

“It’s meat and drink to Tottenham’s centre-forward.

“That should lift a few heads and lift morale that looked a bit dented in the first half.”

Lift heads it did, as Spurs then blew Palace away thereafter.

Kane grabbed a second goal following great work from Gil on 53 minutes.

Then, Matt Doherty slotted into the bottom-left corner from Son Heung-min’s cut-back.

And on 72 minutes, Son ended his goal drought by scoring his first since September.

Marc Guehi failed to deal with a high ball and Son pounced.

The South Korean’s strike took a deflection on its way into the back of the net.

Tottenham got their first win since the Premier League restarted and closed the gap to the top four to two points.

A great second-half display resulting in a morale-boosting big win, and Perisic certainly did his bit for the crucial opener.

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