Game is over and the final score is Crystal Palace 1-2 Tottenham. Here is the match report.
2023/2024 Premier League
1-2
Match Report
An hour had ticked by and their team had their noses in front when the opening notes of Glory, Glory Hallelujah rumbled across from the away end.
It had not been glorious by any stretch. In fact, it had been a hard grind for Tottenham but that may have added to the satisfaction for Ange Postecoglou. To achieve something meaningful over the course of a season means taking points in difficult circumstances.
This is where Spurs have come undone over recent years but here they stretched five points clear at the top of the Premier League with a hard-fought and at times downright ugly victory against a belligerent Crystal Palace.
Postecoglou’s team spluttered through the first half and went ahead early in the second when James Maddison miscued a shot, which would probably have found touch for a Palace throw had it not been diverted by Joel Ward into his own net.
Tottenham seized their good fortune, took a grip on the game and added another goal, this time one with an element of aesthetic delight, with Maddison and substitute Brennan Johnson setting up Son Heung-min for his eighth of the season.
Jordan Ayew pulled one back in the fourth minute of stoppage time to serve up an anxious finish after a long check for handball.
But Spurs held out for the win and can put their feet up for the weekend. The last time they were five clear in the top flight was 1960-61, the Glory Glory era when they last won the title.
Such golden peaks remain distant and Postecoglou will resist premature talk of a title challenge but unbeaten after 10 games, winning games with a blend of style and substance, is an impressive way to begin.
Roy Hodgson came into the fixture demanding a reaction to his team’s 4-0 defeat at Newcastle. The Palace boss, for his 500th game in charge of an English club, made only one change, with Jeffrey Schlupp back from injury, and challenged his players to produce something better. They responded by making a bristling start, full of energy and purpose, hustling Tottenham as they tried to play out from the back.
Will Hughes broke clear and although Micky van de Ven recovered to force him away from goal, the Palace midfielder managed to tee up Jordan Ayew, who drew the first save of the night from Guglielmo Vicario.
Tottenham’s Italian keeper was back in action when Odsonne Edouard, who played briefly under Postecoglou at Celtic, fired another crisp effort his way, fizzed low across the turf. There was threat to Palace in the opening exchanges but Spurs soon took control of possession. Yves Bissouma was back in the heart of the midfield after a one-match ban and Ben Davies came in to replace injured left back Destiny Udogie.
Spurs circulated the ball without finding a happy tempo nor finding way through the red-and-blue ranks. Palace retreated, getting numbers behind the ball and making it awkward.
Maddision spun away down the left but was unable to find a team-mate with his low cut-back. Bissouma launched a free-kick so wildly off target there were hoots of derision from home fans, just as there were when Pape Matar Sarr invested so much determination into a shot on the run he succeeded only in spinning himself to the ground, as the ball bounced off his standing foot and rolled out.
Maddision volleyed another difficult chance over and Richarlison dragged a shot wide from distance. It all made for an untidy spectacle as Palace responded to this spell with Spurs on top by finding a little added aggression in midfield, working hard to ensure the Premier League leaders were not afforded time to pick their passes.
Momentum swung back towards Palace as half-time approached. There was an appeal for a penalty when the ball struck Richarlison on an arm as he jumped to defend a cross in his own area, and pressure from a series of set-pieces.
Tottenham resisted but Postecoglou wore a dark look of dissatisfaction at half-time.
There were echoes of the same fixture in January when Spurs struggled through a goalless first half, before two goals by Harry Kane after the restart put them in charge and they ran away to a 4-0 win. This time, there was no Kane but there was a breakthrough.
Pedro Porro released Sarr whose low cross took a fortunate deflection towards Maddison who, in turn, lashed at the ball, pulling it square. Ward was caught flat on his feet, facing his goal and his instinct to intervene saw him turn the ball into his own net.
Under Postecoglou the strength has been as a unit with contributions from all areas, finding a way through. Somehow, anyhow. That’s what they did again.
Davies had not returned for the second half so Spurs had Emerson Royal on at left back and looked vulnerable. Schlupp wriggled past Porro early in the second half but could not pick a pass.
After the own goal, Marc Guehi glanced a header wide from a corner but Postecoglou’s team scored their second after his double change, sending on Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Johnson, who set up Son for the second.
Line-ups
Crystal Palace XI: Ward, Jordan Ayew, Schlupp, Sam Johnstone, Hughes, Andersen, Lerma, Odsonne Edouard, Guehi, Cheick Doucouré, Tyrick Mitchell
Subs: Clyne, Riedewald, Remi Matthews, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Holding, Chris Richards, Naouirou Ahamada, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, Matheus França
Tottenham XI: Son, Ben Davies, Maddison, Guglielmo Vicario, Richarlison, Bissouma, Romero, Kulusevski, Pedro Porro, Pape Matar Sarr, Micky van de Ven
Subs: Fraser Forster, Hojbjerg, Dier, Lo Celso, Bentancur, Skipp, Aparecido, Gil, Brennan Johnson