Tottenham Hotspur marked their long-awaited homecoming with a vital 2-0 win over Crystal Palace in the first Premier League game at their new stadium on Wednesday to revive their faltering top-four hopes.
It was hardly a classic to mark the official opening of Tottenham’s spectacular 62,062-seat stadium, but second-half goals by Son Heung-min and Christian Eriksen ended a slump which had seen them reeled in by the chasing pack.
Victory lifted Spurs back into third spot having been overtaken by local rivals Arsenal at the weekend.
After a six-month delay the one billion pounds ($1.32 billion) arena finally opened for business but until Son opened the scoring in the 55th minute the occasion was in danger of falling flat.
The South Korean cut in from the right and his left-foot strike took a hefty deflection to beat keeper Vicente Guaita.
Eriksen then sealed Tottenham’s first win in six league games when he scored from close range in the 80th minute.
Victory lifted Spurs to 64 points from 32 games with Arsenal on 63 having played a game less. Chelsea also have 63 while Manchester United are on 61 in the race for Champions League spots.
Elsewhere, Manchester City returned to the top of the Premier League with a 2-0 win over Cardiff that moved Pep Guardiola’s side a point clear of Liverpool with six games of the campaign remaining.
The destiny of the title is in City’s hands with both teams having now played 32 games and City on 80 points while Jurgen Klopp’s team are on 79.
City dominated from the outset, taking the lead in the sixth minute when Kevin De Bruyne ran on to a clever pass from Aymeric Laporte and blasted past Cardiff keeper Neil Etheridge from a tight angle.
Leroy Sane made it 2-0 a minute before the interval with a sweet left-foot drive after a clever chest pass from Gabriel Jesus.
Somehow City were unable to add to their tally after the break with Etheridge making a series of fine saves as City peppered the Cardiff goal.
The result leaves 18th placed Cardiff five points away from the safety zone on 28 points. Burnley, Southampton and Brighton are all on 33 points, Huddersfield Town and Fulham have already been relegated.
In the night’s other game, Callum Hudson-Odoi toasted his full Premier League debut by sparking Chelsea’s 3-0 Stamford Bridge rout of Brighton.
The 18-year-old celebrated his full league bow by serving the opening goal on a plate for Olivier Giroud, before Eden Hazard and Ruben Loftus-Cheek dispatched eye-catching second-half strikes.
Hazard’s 14th league goal of the campaign and Loftus-Cheek’s eighth in all competitions pushed Chelsea above Manchester United into fifth place, but one point off Tottenham in third.
