Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur earned a narrow 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Ray Wilkins has applauded Tottenham Hotspur on Sky Sports’ website after they overcame Crystal Palace on Sunday, just days after beating Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Spurs earned a 1-0 at Wembley Stadium thanks to a second-half strike from Son Heung-Min, but they struggled to open up Palace for the majority of the game.
Earlier in the week, the north Londoners had secured what is likely to be one of the biggest results in their history, beating Real 3-1 thanks to a Dele Alli brace and a Christian Eriksen goal.
Former Chelsea and Aston Villa assistant manager Wilkins believes that mentally preparing Tottenham to face Palace on the back of the win against Real will have been difficult, grading Spurs’ win with an A.
Wilkins also reserved special praise for 23-year-old England international Eric Dier, who impressed once again at centre-back to help Spurs keep their eighth clean sheet of the season.
“After that mid-week win over Real Madrid, the high of that, it was always going to be difficult to get themselves back up for this game,” Wilkins said. “Pochettino will be delighted that they’ve managed to get a clean sheet.
“Eric Dier was magnificent at centre-half. Most would assume just beating Real means you go and batter the next team, but it’s not like that at all. You are on such a high, and to get yourself back to being professional on a Saturday is difficult.”
Going into the international break, the win leaves Spurs on level points with Manchester United but in third on goal difference behind Jose Mourinho’s side. However, they sit a huge eight points behind league leaders Manchester City.
Mauricio Pochettino will be hoping his international stars remain injury-free over the next fortnight, with Spurs going up against bitter enemies Arsenal on November 18.
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