Tottenham came from behind to win 3-1 against Crystal Palace in the 27th round of the Premier League in the 2023-24 season at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, on the 3rd (Korea time). Eberechi Eze was given the first goal, but Werner, Christian Romero and Son Heung-min scored consecutive goals to turn the game around.
With three points, Tottenham remained in fifth place with 15 wins, five draws and six losses and 50 points. Palace ranked 14th with seven wins, seven draws and 13 losses and 28 points.
Playing as a front-line one-top player on the day, Son scored his third goal to secure victory in the 43rd minute of the second half when his team was leading 2-1. He sprinted about 30 meters under the pass of Brennan Johnson, before finishing lightly with his right foot in a one-on-one opportunity. It was his 13th goal in this season's league and his first goal in two months.
In fact, Son could have scored a assist before scoring. After cutting off the Palace attack in the 18th minute when the score was 0-0, Son slotted a fantastic kill pass towards Werner as he ran. Werner was ahead of Palace's defense, but was not on the offside as he had not yet crossed the halfway line. Werner grabbed the ball with a great touch and ran quickly towards the goal.
However, the phrase "Werner did it" was almost like the ending. The goalkeeper was supposed to beat the goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation before putting it in an empty net, but it didn't go well. Werner turned to the right side of the goalkeeper, but the goalkeeper followed him all the way and blocked Werner's shot with his arm. He caught the ball and crossed it, but Palace's defense cleared it far outside the touchline.
Having missed the obvious scoring opportunity, Werner shook his head with a stunned look on his face. Stabbing a fantastic pass, Son approached Werner and encouraged him, lightly hitting him in the back of the head.
Werner has been criticized for his goal-getting ability throughout his career. Werner, who also played for Chelsea in the past, scored only 10 goals during the two seasons. Since his days in Leipzig, Germany, Werner was regarded as a strength for accurate penetration and line-breaking, but was often hamstrung by his decision-making ability.
During his Chelsea years, Werner criticized himself by saying, "Sometimes I don't know why my fans support me. I'm a striker, but I'm not scoring."
Even after joining Tottenham through the transfer window this winter, he added the league and the FA Cup, failing to score goals for six matches, and only recording two assists. British talk sports said, "Werner played five matches (after coming to Tottenham). Although it is a short period of time, it is slightly different from what he used to do at Chelsea. It has gotten worse." He is showing more serious decision-making skills than he was at Chelsea.
Werner scored the equalizer after receiving a ground ball cross from Johnson in the 32nd minute of the second half when the team was losing 0-1. Werner, who scored his first goal in his seventh game for Tottenham, raced toward the left corner flag and performed goal ceremony. However, when his teammates did not come to congratulate him, he rushed to the halfway line alone.
"I missed a huge opportunity in the first half," Werner told Tottenham's media after the game. "But they told me I had to keep going," he said. "I feel like I was able to score a goal in the second half thanks to them. It's nice to have some teammates who didn't point out. They supported me, and it helped me a lot."
"Actually, I wanted to score a goal and perform a ceremony, but when I saw no one coming, I realized it was a 1-1 situation. So I immediately ran back to the halfway line," he said with a smile.
Werner, who was considered a failed recruitment before the match, opened a turning point with his scoring against Palace. Attention is focusing on whether Werner, whose loan contract ends this summer, will be able to make a full transfer through his performance in the rest of the season.
