Tottenham 1-0 Crystal Palace: Harry Kane strike ends four-game winless run to send Spurs sixth

Harry Kane scored the only goal of the game as Tottenham Hotspur beat Crystal Palace 1-0 and boosted their chances of playing European football next season.

Kane scored in first-half stoppage time, nodding in a Pedro Porro cross at the back post after the England captain had himself released the Spaniard.

It was Kane's 209th Premier League goal, moving him into sole possession of second place on the division's all-time scoring list.

The match had few chances aside from Kane's goal, although Cristian Romero did hit the bar from a corner and Son Heung-min was denied by the Palace goalkeeper after going through on-on-one.

Tottenham saw the game out impressively for a side with just one victory in their last seven matches and limited the visitors to very few chances.

Victory means Spurs climb to sixth - a Europa League place - on 57 points, although several of the teams around them have games in hand. Palace have 40 points and drop to 12th.

Kane's goal was his 26th of the Premier League season. Not since 2017-18 has he scored more and in a world without Erling Haaland he would be a lock to win the Golden Boot. Kane has now scored in nine of his last 11 matches for club and country.

Given all the turbulence at Tottenham this season, Kane deserves credit for continuing to fire and things would be so much worse were it not for Kane's excellence. Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski have scored just three league goals between them while Son has been short of his high standards, so Kane has really carried the attack.

All this is worth remembering when Kane's future and his importance to Spurs come up for discussion in the summer.

Kane's goal made the difference and his committed display was summed up by a key clearance made on his own six-yard box in the 84th minute. Kane turned an ugly draw into an ugly, much-needed win.

Tottenham Hotspur: Forster 6, Royal 6, Romero 7, Lenglet 6, Davies 6, Skipp 5, Hojbjerg 5, Porro 6, Richarlison 5, Son 5, Kane 7. Subs: Kulusevski 5, Danjuma 5, Dier 6.

Crystal Palace: Johnstone 7, Ward 4, Andersen 7, Guehi 7, Mitchell 6, Doucoure 7, Schlupp 5, Eze 6, Olise 5, Zaha 6, Ayew 4. Subs: Hughes 4, Edouard 4.

ROMERO HITS BAR 17' - From a corner, Romero flicks a near-post header onto the crossbar. Johnstone did not have time to react.

KANE GIVES SPURS LEAD 45+1' - Kane collects the ball and sends it wide to Porro, whose excellent cross from the right is then met by Kane who has a free header at the back post. Ward lost his man and Palace pay the price.

ZAHA COMES CLOSE 50' - Zaha shows great control to take down a cross then clips a shot narrowly over, with Forster a spectator.

SON ONE-ON-ONE 76' - Romero picks out Son with a super through ball. Son controls well and seeks to round Johnstone, but cannot quite do it and Johnstone makes a smart save.

Kane is the first player to score 10 headed goals in a single Premier League season.