A rare Werner goal inspires Tottenham's comeback against Palace | first division

What was it like to be at those weddings in Cana when the water was
turned into wine? How did it feel to be in Smyrna in the year 155 when the
Did the flames refuse to burn the body of Saint Polycarp? The holy waters of
Does Lourdes really heal the lame and the lame? It turns out that miracles can
happen, and the Tottenham Hotspur The stadium witnessed on Saturday one of
Most unlikely thing ever: Timo Werner scored.

Tottenham, not for the first time recently, got their way.
They had fallen behind Eberechi Eze just before the time, but
Werner's first goal for the club followed by a header from Cristian Romero
and a good shot by Son Heung-min gave them a victory that maintains the
pressure on Aston Villa in fourth place and increases their lead over
Manchester United six points ahead of Sunday's Manchester derby.

But it was a close situation and Oliver Glasner may feel that, with
With performances like this, relegation shouldn't really be a threat for
Crystal Palace. The shape may have been Glasner's favorite: 3-4-2-1.
instead of Roy Hodgson's beloved back four, but the approach
have been comfortingly familiar to Palace: let the opposition have the
ball, keep it tight and try to keep the score at 0-0 until half-time. In which
They were very successful.

Spurs may have picked up 11 points from their previous six league games and
lost only two of its previous 10, but the dynamism and brilliance of the
The first part of the season has already passed. Palace were diligent and Spurs
could not start in a first half where the only opportunity was a
one of those that somehow make scoring a goal seem like a feat of
implausible difficulty – which may simply be saying that it fell into the hands
Werner.

There is something distressing about seeing the German in the
contemplation of an opportunity. The shoulders become stiff, the stride becomes shorter.
A little tighter, a feeling of unease descends over the stadium. He is he
man who, in the middle of signing a stack of Christmas cards, suddenly
finds the pen stuck while trying to write his own name, enduring
a terrible mental error such as the ability to do something that should
being second nature abandons him.

The more Werner has to think about it, the worse it will be and when
He was released by Son after 20 minutes, he had a long, long time to
Think about it. Werner ran out of his own field and attacked.
He swerved to the right, looking as if he had passed Sam Johnstone.
and then discovered that the subterfuge of changing the angle of his career for
maybe 30 degrees wasn't enough and the goalkeeper had gotten into a fight
to the other side to block. Good goalkeeper, yes, but that was Werner's twelfth.
shot in his fifth league start since arriving on loan from RB Leipzig
in January.

The Spurs were more enterprising after the break and Son cut
Shot at the base of the post after a cross from Dejan Kulesevski
after Emerson Royal regained possession. But one of the Spurs
The problems of this season have been balance: perhaps they have never been so
vulnerable as well as when they are most dangerous.

Palace have sorely missed Eberechi Eze this season. He managed only 65
Minutes in his return from a hamstring injury but they were critical.
It was his advance on the counterattack that caused the cynical lack of
Rodrigo Bentancur from which he launched a free kick upwards
corner. It was a goal of great quality, his sixth goal of the season,
but at the same time there must be questions about the position of
Guglielmo Vicario in relation to his wall, without apparently anyone
covering the right side of the goal.

And then, with 13 minutes left, it happened. Brennan Johnson
He staggered down the right, crossed low and Werner punched the ball home.
on an open network. The sun broke through the clouds and joy abounded
North London. Romero nodded in a cross launched by James Madison to put
Spurs took the lead shortly after before Son clinched the game with a
well worked counter.

It may not have been the most convincing victory, but no one will remember it.
that in the years to come. This is how Timo Werner scored.