Crystal Palace 0-1 Tottenham: Highlights and recap

Tottenham beat Crystal Palace 1-0 in the Premier League on Wednesday, April 26. Here are all the highlights from the match.

The first half followed a predictable pattern. Spurs dominated possession as expected, without creating too much of note with it. It was Palace’s Christian Benteke who had the game’s first shot on target, in the 15th minute. The home side’s defence was very deep and compact when Tottenham had the ball, which meant that Spurs were mostly reduced to shots from outside the box which failed to trouble Hennessey in the Palace goal. Victor Wanyama was perhaps lucky not to get sent off, after crunching into Townsend within ten minutes of being booked, but there was minimal serious goal mouth action.

The first incident of note in the second half occurred when Mamadou Sakho stretched for a ball but injured himself in the process, and had to be replaced by Delaney. The enforced change for Palace enabled Spurs to create better opportunities, including a clear-cut chance which Dele Alli missed. A draw looked on the cards though, until the 78th minute when yet another long range Spurs effort found the back of the net. Christian Eriksen was the scorer, though Hennessey should perhaps have saved it. Palace didn’t have a single shot in the second half, so the result was certainly a fair one.

Next: Is possession dead in the Premier League?

Highlights

The result leaves Spurs four points behind leaders Chelsea, and their next match is the north London derby with Arsenal on Sunday.

Palace have a seven point cushion between themselves and the relegation zone, so should be safe for another season. As they still have to travel to both Manchester clubs, they will want one more home win to make sure.