Premier League: Spurs crush Palace while Forest earn crucial victory
Tonight’s Premier League matches had no impact on the top four but they were crucial towards the bottom of the table. Here’s what happened in England’s domestic competition tonight.
Spurs close gap
Harry Kane scored a brace as Tottenham Hotspur beat Crystal Palace 4-0 at Selhurst Park.
It was a cagey first half but the Spurs No10 made the difference early on in the second half when he netted to surpass Alan Shearer’s record for the most goals (196) in their first 300 matches.
The England striker took one touch to double Tottenham’s lead just minutes later to close in on 200 Premier League goals.
Spurs increased their lead to four goals through Matt Doherty and Son Heung-min to put any chance of a Palace comeback to bed.
It was also the first time Tottenham scored first in all competitions in 11 matches and the side’s biggest ever away win in the league at Palace.
Palace sit 12th in the Premier League table while Tottenham closed the gap to Manchester United in fourth to just two points.
Hammers draw Leeds
On a poignant night for West Ham United – given the death of their co-chair David Gold earlier today – David Moyes’ men had a victory stolen from them by Leeds at Elland Road as the two sides drew 2-2.
Wilfried Gnonto put Leeds ahead in the first half before Lucas Paqueta netted his first goal for West Ham to draw level.
Gianluca Scamacca scored a minute later to give the Hammers the lead but a Rodrigo Moreno goal in the 70th minute earned Leeds the draw.
West Ham escape the Premier League relegation places and sit 17th while Leeds sit 14th – the club are two points clear of the bottom three.
Forest escape bottom three
Nottingham Forest backed up their draw against Chelsea with their first away win of the season as they beat bottom side Southampton 1-0 at St Mary’s tonight.
Taiwo Awoniyi was the difference for Forest with his goal in the 27th minute.
Awoniyi’s successful effort took Nottingham Forest out of the Premier League relegation places and into 15th while their win pushes Everton down to 18th.
Southampton remain bottom of the Premier League and are now three points down on West Ham in 17th after their sixth straight defeat.
Forest have lost just one in their last seven matches in all competitions while Southampton are on their fourth consecutive league defeat.
Wolves held in West Mids battle
Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa shared the spoils in the West Midlands derby tonight as the two sides drew 1-1 at Villa Park to leave Villa close to the top 10.
Daniel Podence netted the opener in just the 12th minute for Wolves before Villa equalised late on through Danny Ings.
The result leaves Aston Villa in 11th – level on points with Crystal Palace but ahead on goal difference – while Wolves remain in the relegation places in 19th – they’re just a point from safety.