A questionable refereeing decision at Selhurst Part saw Spurs miss out on the chance to go 4th on the table on Saturday night.
Spurs probed ceaselessly during a first half in which Alan Pardew’s Palace sat back and looked to hit us on the counter. Christian Eriksen squandered the best chance of the period when he somehow turned Kyle Walker’s cutback round the post.
The second half started in much the same way, and Harry Kane was once again on hand to reward the pressure when his low drive found the bottom corner through Scott Dann’s legs.
But Spurs sat back and Palace were back in the game when Benjamin Stambouli slid in on Joe Ledley to hand Dwight Gayle the chance to equalise – which he obliged at.
And the points were sealed in Pardew’s first game as Jason Puncheon took the ball off Wilfred Zaha to sweep the ball into the bottom corner of Hugo Lloris’ net.
Player Ratings
Hugo Lloris 6 – Beaten well by the penalty and could do nothing for Puncheon’s excellent strike. Stepped up excellently when Murray went through 1-on-1. Super save from Zaha late on.
Kyle Walker 6 – Was beaten easily by Zaha to produce the second Palace goal but was a constant threat going forward. Created the gleaming chance for Eriksen when overlapping down the wing.
Federico Fazio 6 – Struggled with the pace of the Palace attack especially when Zaha came on, but was as strong as ever aerially. Hasn’t won everybody ovber just yet.
Jan Vertonghen 6 – Was unlucky not to convert his header that Speroni dealt with well, but will be disappointed with Puncheon’s goal.
Danny Rose 6 – useful outlet at fullback and seems to have edged Ben Davies again. Not a lot in terms of final product during a game that was dominated by a pressing Spurs side.
Mousa Dembele 6 – Held off the Palace midfield well the majority of the time, but failed to inject the energy that Bentaleb would. No killer pass and didn’t open up at goal.
Benjamin Stambouli 7 – My Man of the Match despite giving away a penalty, which looked harsh considering Benji had pulled out of the tackle when Ledley went flying. Stambouli ran the first half, sitting in front of the back 4 and mopping up whenever the attacks came to an end. Some superb moments of skill.
Andros Townsend 5 – Wasn’t on it today. Misplaced passes straight into touch and overran the ball constantly. Nothing like he showed against Chelsea which is very frustrating.
Christian Eriksen 6 – Couldn’t conjure up any moments of magic when we needed it most. Wasn’t helped by a lack of runners out wide , and CERTAINLY should have made it 1-0 with an absolutely perfect chance in front of goal.
Nacer Chadli 6 – Didn’t make a move off his wing mostly, and didn’t link up with Kane in the same way that tore apart Chelsea. His tendency to drift in and out of games is unnerving.
Harry Kane 7 – Looked like Harry had produced another match-winning moment when he found the bottom corner of the Palace net in the second half. Ran the channels well but dropped deep too often to leave a hole up front.
SUBS
Etienne Capoue 6 – Didn’t do much differently when he replaced Andros Townsend, allowing Dembele to *supposedly* move forward. Didn’t happen.
Roberto Soldado N/a – Nice to see Bobby get the run out but never got a sight of goal. Hardly an inspirational introduction.
