It was a case of home sweet home for Tottenham as they celebrated moving into their new stadium with a convincing 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
Hailstones showered the pitch ahead of the first game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but it was Heung-Min Son that shone brightest as he created a moment of history (55) to become the first scorer at the £1bn stadium.
Christian Eriksen (81) wrapped up the points for a dominant Spurs, who moved back above Arsenal into third with six games remaining.
On their first return to their north London home for 689 days, 59,000 fans enjoyed what they saw as Mauricio Pochettino's team attacked with great authority throughout.
In what is being hailed in some parts as the best stadium in the world, Eriksen forced Vicente Guaita into an early save before Harry Kane had a free-kick blocked wide by the Palace wall.
Michy Batshuayi woke Spurs up after the break with a curling effort that went inches wide.
Any fears of Palace playing the party-poopers were dashed when Son wrote himself into the history books early on in the second half.
Eriksen found Son and he cut inside before firing a low strike which took a big deflection off Luka Milivojevic and into the net.
Kane looked desperate to make a name for himself on the homecoming but shanked a very presentable chance wide after being put through by Dele Alli.
Eriksen stepped up on 80 minutes to seal the deal.
Kane drove into the area and looked to have been fouled but Eriksen played to the whistle and bundled the ball home from close range.
Man of the match: Heung-Min Son
This was the South Korean at his buzzing best. After a spell of 11 goals in 12 games, Son had gone six without a goal as perhaps Spurs' busy schedule was catching up with him. He was on the bench for the defeat at Liverpool and that break looks to have done him a world of good. Playing in a free role off Kane, he set the tone early on with an array of direct running which forced Palace back. He was fully deserving of the slice of luck gained with his opening goal.
Opta stats
- Tottenham have won their last eight Premier League meetings against Crystal Palace, the most successive wins they've had against side in the competition.
- Away from Wembley, Tottenham are unbeaten in their last 15 home London derbies in the Premier League (W11 D4), winning each of the last five at White Hart Lane and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
- the start of last season (W1 D1 L6), losing each of the last three.
- Son has now scored 12 Premier League goals this season; only in 2016-17 (14) has he ever scored more in a single season in his top-flight league career.
- Eriksen has both scored and assisted in nine Premier League games for Tottenham; more than any other midfielder for the club in the competition.
- Eriksen has now assisted 59 goals in his 200 Premier League games; only Cesc Fàbregas (66), David Beckham (62), Thierry Henry (61) and Dennis Bergkamp (60) provided more in their first 200 appearances in the competition.
Manager reaction
Pochettino: "It's a special moment, a special night. I feel and believe it is the best stadium in the world.
"We knew the game was going to be difficult and tough. You don't know how we're going to react but, playing the way we played in the first half, we were going to score."
Hodgson: "I thought that if we'd just kept it 0-0 a bit longer and if 1-0 had come a bit later then in the last 20 minutes they might have had some concerns from our attacking chances."
What's next?
Tottenham are back at their new home next Tuesday when they welcome Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final. Meanwhile, Palace play Newcastle on Saturday in the Premier League.