Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas is confident that new striker Roberto Soldado will bag over 20 goals this season and is delighted with the side’s victory against newly-promoted Crystal Palace.
Spurs travelled to Palace for a potentially tricky opening game of the season, but a second-half penalty from Soldado was enough to give the visitors all three points, even withour star-man Gareth Bale.
After Aaron Lennon’s cross was handled, Tottenham were awarded a penalty, something they weren’t given all of last season, and the Spaniard stepped up confidently to slot home and give his new side all three points in their first game of the season.
When interviewed after the match, Villas-Boas was asked whether or not he feels Soldado is good enough to bag over 20 goals this season, and the Portuguese boss admitted that he expects him to reach that target.
Villas-Boas responded: ‘Of course, his record speaks for itself.’
The Spurs boss then continued and added that he is delighted with his side’s victory.
‘I’m extremely happy,’ the Portuguese manager said. ‘It was a good performance. There was a surprise factor to Palace because of the new signings and the fact we don’t know them so well. Palace set up really well and made it extremely hard for us to play through the middle.
‘But we had good chances throughout the 90 minutes and chances to put the game to bed when we were 1-0 up. We had to hand strong in the final minutes of the game to take it to the final whistle but we were deserved winners.’
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt
