Tottenham Hotspur, a side wearing the scars of a World Cup as well as a draining domestic campaign, have staggered and fallen out of their second major cup competition inside four days. This was a meek surrender, their challenge fizzling out with none of the aggression or defiance demonstrated before the shootout loss at Chelsea. Crystal Palace, bound for the fifth round, are not used to such comfortable occasions on home territory.
Mauricio Pochettino had offered up a resigned puff of the cheeks at the final whistle before shuffling back down the touchline, hands buried in his pockets and another route to the first silverware of his coaching career blocked off. He may even have spent that trudge concocting the “trophies only build egos” line he would offer up in his post-match media duties though, in truth, he had plenty to ponder. Without the injured Harry Kane and Dele Alli, and with Son Heung-min weary on his return from the Asia Cup, his team had monopolised the ball but, one spurned penalty aside, proved horribly blunt in attack.
Even a squad of Tottenham’s quality is feeling critically stretched. There was a disjointed feel to this whole performance and, with those clubs pursuing the top four smelling blood, they can ill afford a repeat against Watford on Wednesday. The collective was leggy, with some players rusty having been restored after lay-offs and others showing the strain from the cluttered schedule. Palace would argue theirs was hardly a settled selection either, but Spurs were made to look inadequate against a team who had scored only six goals all season at home prior to this tie. That tally has now been swollen to eight courtesy of Connor Wickham and Andros Townsend’s first-half goals. The 112th clean sheet of Julián Speroni’s 15-year Palace career, overtaking Nigel Martyn’s club record in the process, ensured progress.
The Argentinian, his poise recovered from that traumatic occasion at Anfield on his first appearance in 13 months the previous weekend, was called upon to deny Fernando Llorente twice from close range after the break. But, for all that the visitors dominated possession and rattled up their corner and shot tallies accordingly, this contest had already veered out of Spurs’ grasp by then. Rather, the critical moments had come just before the interval, first when Speroni twice denied Georges-Kévin Nkoudou after a clever free-kick routine and then, most critically of all, when Spurs passed up a chance from the spot.
Patrick van Aanholt’s crude foul on Juan Foyth had offered the visitors their route back into the tie but Kieran Trippier, who had not been involved in the shoot-out at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night, seemed unnerved by the ball rolling off the mark as he prepared to convert. Once repositioned, and with Speroni diving the right way, he squirted his effort wide of the left-hand post. After Eric Dier and Lucas Moura’s efforts on Thursday, Spurs have now missed three penalties in a row. Such profligacy tends to be punished.
Palace, for once, were far more ruthless. They had their own good news stories to which they could cling, bolstering the mood ahead of a critical period in the Premier League which will shape the rest of their campaign. The lead had been established early, Jeffrey Schlupp collecting Joel Ward’s pass and bustling far too easily around Davinson Sánchez to spit away a right-foot shot nine minutes in. Paulo Gazzaniga could only parry that attempt out for Wickham, following up, to bundle in his first goal for 799 days off his knee.
The referee checked the offside, but a player whose career has been badly interrupted by the serious knee injury sustained in a madcap 5-4 loss at Swansea in November 2016 would not be denied his moment. The emotion of his celebration, looking up to his family in the executive boxes before thumping the turf gleefully, said everything. “He’s hardly played in two and a quarter years,” said Roy Hodgson. “It can’t get much better than that for him. He’s worked so hard to get back to where he is.”
It was Wickham’s presence at Kyle Walker-Peters’s back which panicked the young full-back into handling Wilfried Zaha’s cross just after the half-hour mark, and Townsend’s finish from the spot was far more clinical than that mustered by Trippier. The former Spurs winger should have added a third from Van Aanholt’s pass moments later but, even with that opportunity struck wastefully at Gazzaniga, Tottenham did not seem in the mood to revive. Everything their makeshift side attempted was laboured, or marginally lacking in conviction. When they did summon some oomph, the efforts from distance flew straight at Speroni. This was the 39-year-old’s 405th appearance for Palace. If it proves to have been his last, with Vicente Guaita and Wayne Hennessey likely to be in contention to return from injury at Southampton on Wednesday, then this was quite a way to go out.
Hodgson should have Bakary Sako, re-signed from West Bromwich Albion, available for that trip with his options suddenly more promising going into the second half of the campaign. Certainly his second-choice back-line, superbly marshalled by Scott Dann – in whom Fulham have an interest, for all that Palace could price him out of a move – and Martin Kelly, were admirably disciplined to ease them through.
Spurs could find no way through. They, like West Ham and Everton, had seen their aspirations in this competition buried in south London. Theirs have been a punishing few days.
