Match report:
FULL TIME: Crystal Palace 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur
And that’s that! Christian Eriksen’s stylish snapshot is enough to secure victory! It wasn’t much of a match, but matters of style are very much secondary at this stage of the season. Tottenham move to within four points of leaders Chelsea, with five games remaining! The title race is alive and kicking! Who’s next, then? Ah look, it’s Arsenal at White Hart Lane on Sunday. Can you wait? No, us neither!
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90 min +7: Son breaks down the left and is hauled back by Zaha. A free kick which surely sees Spurs home and hosed. Zaha is booked for booting the ball away in impotent frustration.
90 min +6: Walker romps down the right but can’t find a team-mate in the middle. Cabaye tries to launch a counter attack but gets the pass forward all wrong.
90 min +5: Sissoko and Eriksen turn faffing into an art form. It’s professional, they’re chasing Chelsea in the hope of winning the title, you can’t blame them for it. Eventually it’s a goal kick, which is time for the subs board to go up. On comes Trippier, once Alli has ambled off.
90 min +4: Spurs eventually take it. Eriksen and Sissoko faff around awhile, playing it short and eventually earning another corner. Another opportunity to faff!
90 min +3: Sissoko meanders down the right and earns a corner off Schlupp. Spurs don’t rush to take it.
90 min +2: Puncheon embarks on a playful romp down the left, and makes it all the way to the byline. It’s a marvellous bustle, and his high cross would have been meat and drink to the departed Benteke. But it’s Campbell in there instead, and the ball’s cleared from danger.
90 min: There will be seven minutes of added time, the legacy of the injury to Mamadou Sahko.
89 min: This game is still being played at 100 miles per hour. The Premier League! It might not always be the most refined, but it is good fun.
88 min: Palace go up the other end and earn a corner out on the right. Puncheon takes, but Dier clears easily enough.
86 min: Palace are struggling to get out of their own area. Davies manufactures space for himself down the left, but his cross for Kane isn’t much cop. The busy Puncheon clears.
85 min: Alli dribbles down the right and earns a corner. Superb tenacity. Eriksen takes. Delaney heads it out for a second corner. Eriksen takes again. Delaney blocks a Dier flick and it’ll be take three. Eriksen’s delivery causes a bit of a kerfuffle. Eventually Alderweireld, under a dropping ball, swivels on the penalty spot and very nearly guides a shot into the bottom right. That would have been quite the poacher’s strike by the defender.
83 min: There’s a load of pushing and shoving in the area before the corner can be taken. Eventually the corner’s taken, and Puncheon creams a header clear.
82 min: Kane spins round Ward on the left and bustles into the Palace box. He nearly manufactures a shooting position but has to settle for a corner. From which...
81 min: Benteke has done nothing whatsoever tonight. But then he’s not playing against Liverpool. He’s hooked in favour of Campbell.
80 min: Milivojevic is booked for a late clip on Alli.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Eriksen 78)
The deadlock is broken, and this is out of nothing. Spurs ping it around in the middle of the park. The ball lands at Eriksen’s feet, courtesy of Kane, 25 yards out in a central position. Puncheon closes in on Eriksen. Hennessey can’t see through his team-mate, and Eriksen uses the cover of Puncheon to bash a no-backlift snapshot into the bottom left! What a strike! What opportunism! What an important goal this could be in the title race!
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77 min: Walker hoicks a ball into the Palace box from the right. Kane can’t quite get a head on it, but it falls to Son, 12 yards out and level with the left-hand post. A first-time shot would cause bother, but he hesitates and the chance is gone. Davies tries to get the move going again with a cross from the left. Kane heads softly into Hennessey’s arms.
76 min: Spurs have been pushing, but Zaha breaks up their rhythm with a couple of snappy tackles in the centre of the pitch. Relentless tracking back and harrying.
74 min: Dier meets the corner at the near post, but flashes the ball well wide right of goal. Palace attempt to move the ball at pace up the other end. Puncheon purchases an easy free kick in the centre circle, going over the clumsy outstretched leg of Sissoko. The home fans fancy a yellow card, but one isn’t forthcoming.
73 min: Walker and Eriksen combine down the inside-right channel to release Kane. The striker’s just got Hennessey to beat, but the angle’s tight, so he looks to slip the ball into the centre. The ball doesn’t find another white shirt; instead it’s bundled out for a corner.
71 min: Eriksen has that determined look in his eye. He attempts to bust clear of Schlupp down the right, but is dragged back illegally. He restarts play quickly, and feeds Son down the left, but Son runs the ball out of play, Ward always on top of that situation. This promises to be a very interesting final 20 minutes.
69 min: Spurs are beginning to pick up the pace and press harder. Time is not their friend right now. They really need a winner if they’re to keep the pressure on Chelsea in the title race. Davies and Ward launch into a block tackle down the Spurs left, deep in Palace territory. Hard but fair, fair but hard. Ooyah. The business end of the season, right here.
68 min: Kane attempts a dribble into the Palace box from the right. He’s one dragback away from busting clear, but Puncheon steps in to rob the ball.
66 min: Son cuts in from the left, laying off to Walker, who lashes wildly to the right of goal. Walker goes up the other end and shoulderbarges Zaha off the pitch. No foul. The punters don’t like the decision, and go ballistic when Son makes off down the Spurs left, is tugged back by Ward, and the Palace man sees yellow. This is a London derby all right.
64 min: Cabaye gets involved immediately, and nearly releases Townsend in the Spurs box down the left. Vertonghen ushers the ball out of play. For a second, it looks as if he might grapple with Townsend in the basic style. But the situation doesn’t spark. There’s a wee undercurrent to this game. It wouldn’t take much.
63 min: Palace make a swap: McArthur, who started brightly but faded, is replaced by Cabaye.
62 min: Eriksen, sitting deep and dictating play, floats a ball down the middle and nearly finds Alli. Then another phase as the same two players combine, the former cutting in from the right and finding Alli to the left of the D. Alli turns and sends a shot towards the right-hand portion of the net, but Hennessey is behind it.
60 min: Kane is booked for a highkick on Puncheon, a loose contribution to a 50-50 challenge. A few Spurs tempers are indeed beginning to fray. It’s a mild bubble rather than a raging boil. But a sense of it nonetheless.
58 min: Spurs should be leading. From the right, Walker curls a delightful ball to the far post. Alli only needs to trundle it in, but somehow sends it back across the face of goal under pressure from Kelly. How did he miss that?!
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57 min: Sakho is eventually carried off, Delaney coming on in his wake. A huge reception for the departing hero, Selhurst wishing God speed.
55 min: Sakho is still getting loaded onto the stretcher. Play went on after the Kane-Sakho incident, by the way - there was no foul - and Alli dragged a shot wide left from the edge of the box.
53 min: Sakho and Kane tussle for a loose ball down the inside right channel. Kane threatens to break free so Sakho stretches out a leg. His knee jars as he lands. That looks like a serious injury, as the big man calls for help immediately. The stretcher’s coming on, and on the touchline, Sam Allardyce shakes his head sadly.
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51 min: Zaha embarks on another skitter up the left, latching on to a dreadful crossfield pass by Alderweireld. This time he’s stopped in his tracks by Sissoko. A foul in the midfield, nothing more, no card. But Spurs have come out in combative mood, and there’s a slight sense of a collective short fuse smouldering.
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49 min: Alli slides a clever ball down the inside-left channel for Davies, who reaches the byline at pace and fizzes a low one in towards Kane. The Spurs striker shapes to shoot, but the ball is hoicked out for a corner. The set piece is uneventful, save Alli and Milivojevic wrestling in the six-yard box. Alli goes down under a very light push, and claims a penalty, but he’s not getting that.
47 min: Zaha drops a shoulder with a view to tearing off down the left wing. Walker comes across and barges him into the advertising hoardings. The Spurs defender is booked for that one: a little too much force in the challenge, coming in from behind. He can have no complaints. Zaha eventually gets up. The resulting free kick is a waste of time, because while Palace load the box, Milivojevic tugs at Kane’s shirt and the pressure is lifted.
And we’re off again! Spurs make an extremely proactive double change. Wanyama, so close to a red card in that first half, is hooked, as is the labouring Dembele. Sissoko and Son come on in their stead. Palace get the ball rolling for the second half.
Half-time reading: Tottenham’s north London neighbours Arsenal are playing host to Leicester; they’ll be starting the second half right about now. Meanwhile Barcelona have rattled seven goals past Osasuna; Paul Doyle was on hand to witness Javier Mascherano score his first goal for the club in seven years of toil. Enjoy! But remember to come back, won’t you.
HALF TIME: Crystal Palace 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Dier swishes through fresh air as he looks to blooter a clearance upfield. That allows Benteke to make good for the Spurs box. He lays off to Zaha, who earns a corner. That leads to nothing, and the whistle blows, but Palace have ended the half on the front foot, with Spurs losing their rag a little. Alli’s short fuse, for example, has just been lit by a no-nonsense Puncheon challenge. The visitors are glad to hear the whistle, and Pochettino rushes off to the dressing room with regrouping very much in mind.
44 min: Dembele, who hasn’t been himself since Puncheon clipped him in the first minute, is limping around, gesticulating to the bench. He looks like he wants to come off. The Spurs management tell him to wait for a half-time assessment.
42 min: Walker loops one into the Palace box from the right. Alli, coming in from the left to meet the ball, can’t get it under control. A little bit of frustration written across a couple of Spurs faces right now, three points a must this evening, all that.
41 min: Spurs ping it around nicely, 35 yards from the Palace goal, for the best part of a minute. It’s all very pretty. Then Eriksen allows the ball to run under his foot, and possession is lost. Kind of sums up Tottenham’s evening so far.
39 min: ... the ball lands at Sakho’s feet, eight yards out. But he can’t dig it out and get a shot away. Spurs clear, but Palace come straight back at the visitors, Townsend launching a dipping, screeching shot inches over the bar from 25 yards.
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38 min: Palace step it up a bit, enjoying the lion’s share in the midfield for a couple of minutes. Zaha teases Walker down the left and earns a free kick near the corner flag. From which...
35 min: The resulting free kick, out on the right, leads to a little head tennis in the Spurs area. But Alli takes the ball away from his own box and earns a free kick that snuffs out the danger.
34 min: Wanyama comes sliding in from the side on Townsend. He’s already been booked, remember. The home fans certainly remember. The referee is under pressure to show a second yellow, but while it was a mistimed foul, there wasn’t much contact at all, and Wanyama wasn’t out of control. A lecture, and the right decision, though he’ll have to watch himself now.
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33 min: Sakho isn’t that ring rusty. Here he is, dealing with pressure from Alli by backheeling out of a pocket of trouble towards his own goal. He knows Ward is there behind him, and Ward mops up. “Sign him up,” holler the home fans.
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31 min: Davies earns a corner off Ward after being sent scampering down the left by Wanyama. Kane gets his head on the set piece, but it’s a weak effort and it’s blocked by Milivojevic. In any case, Alli has been shoving folk around this way and that, and the flag goes up for a free kick.
29 min: Walker and Eriksen one-two down the right, the former entering the box and shooting from a tight angle. The shot breaks back to Eriksen, who has a dig himself, reclaims the rebound, then loops a cross into Hennessey’s arms. Spurs are beginning to show in attack, although it’s all a bit rushed and hectic. But it’s an improvement.
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28 min: Zaha slips a fine ball down the inside-left channel to the feet of Benteke, just inside the area. The striker can’t get a shot away. Benteke is currently in his Playing For Liverpool mode, rather than his Playing Against Liverpool one. He’s been sluggish so far today.
26 min: Wanyama is booked for a late slide on Milivojevic as Palace attempt to break upfield from their own area. Zaha wanted the advantage to be played as Spurs were a little light at the back, but the referee fancied waving his card around, so here we are.
25 min: Eriksen curls a vicious cross into the Palace box from a deep position on the right. It’s a wonderful ball, and sliced clear in a hysterical panic by Kelly, six yards out, in front of his own goal. Walker completes a bad couple of minutes by committing a needless foul on Schlupp out on the right, the pressure on Palace relieved.
24 min: McArthur plays an appalling back pass towards his own left-hand corner flag. Hennessey has no chance of reaching it before Eriksen, who curls in a cross. Sakho’s clearing header isn’t up to much, dropping at the feet of Walker, 12 yards out and level with the right-hand post. Walker’s attempt at a screeching, dipping volley is really quite bad. He holds his head in his hands; he had time to take that one down. Sakho maybe a little ring rusty there after his weekend off.
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22 min: Spurs have enjoyed 78% of possession during the last ten minutes of this match, but have done very little with it. They haven’t really tested Hennessey yet. Alderweireld has a blast from distance, but it’s wild and high.
19 min: Dier quarterbacks a delightful pass from deep towards Walker out on the right touchline. Schlupp is nowhere to be seen, so Walker has time to think. He batters a slightly lame low cross into the side netting. Spurs should have done better with that, with Palace uncharacteristically slack at the back. On the touchline, Sam Allardyce responds by waving his arms around in the frantic style, throwing in a few curse words for good measure.
18 min: After that end-to-end start, we experience something of a lull. Selhurst still bouncing though.
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16 min: Alderweireld, under no pressure, plays a weird and dangerous short pass into no-man’s land, just outside his own area. A strange pocket with nobody anywhere near it. An even stranger pass. He’s fortunate that all the Palace forwards are dozing too, and eventually Walker strolls into the area to claim the ball and usher it away from danger.
14 min: Palace go up the other end, Townsend dribbling across the face of the Spurs box, left to right, before laying off to Benteke, who from the right of the D shoots low and hard towards the bottom left. Lloris is behind that one all the way.
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13 min: Wanyama goes on a determined dribble down the inside-right channel. He makes it all the way to the byline, and attempts a shot from a ludicrously tight angle. It hits the side netting, but it wasn’t so far off. Hennessey probably had it covered, but a decent enough attempt nonetheless.
12 min: Zaha twists and sends in a low cross from the right. McArthur, who has been very lively in the opening exchanges, can’t quite trap and shoot from ten yards. Eriksen threatens to co-ordinate a quick break upfield, but the move fizzles out soon enough. Good luck guessing the opening scorer of this match, though.
10 min: After a bright, open start on a crisp, clear night at Selhurst, things get a bit high-tempo and scrappy. The home fans still like it, like it, like it. Always a cracking old-school atmosphere at this ground.
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8 min: Working in space the size of a postage stamp, Kane digs the ball out from under his feet and sends a snap shot towards the top right from 20 yards. It’s high and wide, but a decent effort nonetheless, created out of absolutely nothing,
7 min: Dembele, perhaps still rocked by that early Puncheon challenge, allows himself to be stripped of possession 25 yards from his own goal. Good work by McArthur, who then slides the ball down the inside-left channel with a view to releasing Benteke in the box. But the big striker has rather dimly wandered offside.
6 min: Ward goes on another Power Jaunt down the right, and very nearly breaks into space. Davies does well to step across his man and shepherd the ball out of play for a goal kick. But Palace’s tails are up. No wonder after their recent results.
4 min: Spurs don’t clear after the Walker challenge, though. Zaha very nearly dribbles through along the right, then Ward fizzes a dangerous ball along the face of the Spurs goal. None of his team-mates on the front foot there. Spurs looking a bit shaky. That was some ball from Ward, who was under pressure near the right-hand corner flag.
3 min: A brisk, bright start, this! Townsend wheechs down the left and is sent tumbling by Walker. A free kick, and a chance for Palace to load the box. Townsend whips it in low, and this time there’s a brouhaha in the Spurs box as the visitors struggle to clear. McArthur tries to plough a furrow down the inside-left and he’s stopped unceremoniously by a Walker tackle that had to be spot on. Fine challenge. No penalty.
2 min: ... a brouhaha develops in the Palace box. All very scrappy as nobody clears. Eventually Kane gets the ball at his feet on the penalty spot, but can’t get a decent shot away.
And we’re off! Spurs get the ball rolling, and ping it around the back awhile. The home fans giving it plenty. Dembele is upended in the midfield by a Puncheon reducer, but play goes on and Alli earns a corner down the right. From which...
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The teams are out! Crystal Palace are in their red-and-blue stripes, while Spurs are decked out in their trademark lilywhite. Selhurst Park is as atmospheric as ever, the dependably noisy home support entertaining themselves with Alan Pardew’s 1990 take on the works of the Dave Clark Five. Glad All Over was the signature song of the Tottenham Sound, wasn’t it? Everyone friends together.
Anyone for a two-screen experience? Before we kick off, a reminder that Tim Hill is covering the game between last year’s champions and (sorry, Spurs fans) runners up.
Sam Allardyce talks! “It’s our catch-up game. Anything we get out of this will be a massive bonus for us. It will be hugely difficult as they are in magnificent form. It’s a big ask again. We’ve exceeded expectation recently but let’s not get carried away, this will be a hugely tough match. If we can achieve anything it would be absolutely outstanding. Hopefully our best will be good enough, but sometimes against a team as good as Tottenham it’s not. Our win at Liverpool has given us a bit of breathing space, but hopefully it’s not going to stop us going out in front of our fans and trying to upset one of the big boys again.”
Maurico Pochettino speaks! “Now it is important after Chelsea won yesterday to win. We need to perform. We need to close the gap to four points. Every game is a big test, and it is important we move on after Saturday. We were disappointed but in football you cannot stop, you have to compete again and be ready to fight. This will be a tough game because they beat Chelsea, they beat Liverpool, they beat Arsenal, they are very confident and are a good side.”
So yes, Tottenham would usually fancy their chances against Palace, having won their last seven Premier League matches, a first title since 1961 a live possibility with six games still to play. But 56 years of hurt take their toll after a while, and Palace’s recent scintillating form isn’t helping their fans settle down either. “My old Dad used to say, it’s not who you play it’s when ya play ‘em,” recalls Michael Aston. “Spurs might just be meeting ‘em at the worst time. Sigh. I so hope Spurs win this, there has to be some respite.”
Gene Mackie adds: “As a nervous Spurs fan, I’d much rather be playing Arsenal at home right now than Palace anywhere. Sam Allardyce is working with one of the most talented squads he’s had in years, and it’s showing. Palace have a track record of spoiling title races (see Liverpool 13-14) and were statistically supposed to lose hard at both Chelsea and Liverpool. We all saw how those went. I trust our forward line, our defence and Dembele, but the longer we go without scoring, the more chance for narrative. Still finish ahead of Arsenal though.”
Palace make two changes to the starting XI sent out to irritate Liverpool last Sunday. James Tomkins was tonked by Marko Grujić at Anfield, and is out injured. Chances are he would have been replaced by Mamadou Sakho anyway; the French defender returns having been forced to sit things out against his parent club. Meanwhile Yohan Cabaye drops to the bench, making way for James McArthur.
Spurs make a couple of swaps as well. Kieran Trippier and slapstick stand-in left back Heung-Min Son started the FA Cup semi against Chelsea, but both are substitutes today, Kyle Walker and Ben Davies taking their places.
Tonight's teams
Crystal Palace: Hennessey, Ward, Kelly, Sakho, Schlupp, Milivojevic, McArthur, Townsend, Puncheon, Zaha, Benteke.
Subs: Speroni, Van Aanholt, Flamini, Cabaye, Campbell, Sako, Delaney.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Dier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Walker, Wanyama, Dembele, Davies, Eriksen, Alli, Kane.
Subs: Son, Janssen, Nkoudou, Trippier, Sissoko, Wimmer, Pau Lopez.
Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire).
Good evening!
Crystal Palace’s current form is nothing short of sensational. Locked into a groove under the preposterously under-rated tutelage of Sam Allardyce, they’ve won six of their last eight Premier League matches. So far this month, they’ve tasted victory at title-chasing Chelsea, thrashed Arsenal, swatted aside Liverpool with not much fuss, and rescued a draw from two goals down against the reigning champions Leicester City. It’s a run which has all but guaranteed their Premier League survival. The Alan Pardew era seems an awfully long time ago.
There are only three teams in the division with better recent records. The aforementioned champs Leicester. Jose Mourinho’s hyper-resilient Manchester United. And tonight’s visitors to Selhurst Park, Tottenham Hotspur, whose seven-game winning run in the Premier League has given us a title race after all. They’re still seven points behind Chelsea, after Antonio Conte’s side saw off Southampton last night, but an eighth win in a row would keep them in the hunt.
A defeat, though, and the jig might be up. Especially after the body blow of performing so well against Chelsea in the FA Cup semi last Saturday and still coming up short. Spurs will be buoyed by their recent league record against Palace: they’ve won the last three. Palace on the other hand will point to a win at White Hart Lane last season in the FA Cup. Tonight’s game could rubber-stamp Palace’s survival; it could boost or bugger Tottenham’s title hopes. It’s between two of the hottest teams in the land right now. It’s too close to call. It promises to be a cracker. It’s on!
Kick off: 8pm.
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