Son Heung-min scores in 200th start as Spurs start to show potential again

Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min throws his mask away as he celebrates scoring against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in south London on Wednesday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Son Heung-min added yet another record to his long list of achievements on Wednesday, becoming the first Asian footballer ever to start 200 Premier League games as Tottenham Hotspur beat Crystal Palace 4-0 at Selhurst Park in London.

As well as adding yet another line to his growing collection of Asian records — highest-paid Asian footballer of all-time, highest-scoring Asian footballer in both the Premier League, the Champions League and all of Europe, first Asian footballer to win the Premier League Golden Boot and many more — Son also scored, becoming the fourth Spurs player to score in their 200th start.

And what a night to do it on. After conceding first for seven straight league games, Tottenham finally seemed to crack the code on Wednesday — score first, score lots and score with the creativity and confidence that ought to come naturally to a squad with so much depth.

Put that all together and you get a 4-0 rout of Crystal Palace with two goals from Harry Kane, one from Matt Doherty and a cherry on top of the cake from the man behind the Zorro mask himself, Son.

True to recent form, it was a scoreless first half. But this time things felt different— there was energy and urgency from Bryan Gil and Oliver Skipp that has often been lacking from the veterans in recent games.

Spurs were pressing throughout the first half, keeping Palace on the back foot — a perfect reversal of the exact trick that everyone else has used to silence Tottenham in recent games. The score remained at 0-0 at the break, but the game was very clearly Spurs' to win.

What followed was both a Kane masterclass and a perfect example of what happens when everybody plays nicely together.

Ivan Perisic set up the first goal, lacing a cross toward the far post and Kane was there in the air, overpowering Joel Ward to make it 1-0. Gil set up No. 2, dribbling in from right and feeding the ball across to Kane to lace past the keeper.

Goal No. 2 started with Kane, then went to Son who set up Doherty for a low finish, with Kane then also setting up Son for the last goal of the game, a perfect way to commemorate the Korean international's 200th start with Tottenham.

“There are moments when you need this type of performance and today we did it,” manager Antonio Conte said after the game. “It wasn’t easy. Don't forget that to play against Crystal Palace away is not easy. If I'm not mistaken they beat us 3-0 last season. This is always a really difficult pitch to play.

“I think my players showed every time great character, great personality in every situation. Then you can win or lose but the most important thing is that you stay on the pitch with the will and the desire to fight until the end.”

With the win, Tottenham showed that even with Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison out of action they can still play the exciting, dominating style of football they ended last season with. The real challenge will be to see whether they can keep that momentum through the next week before they face vicious rivals and league leaders Arsenal on Jan. 15.

Before then, Spurs will be back in action against Portsmouth in the FA Cup on Saturday.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]