Victory secured against 10-man Palace
Our winning run continued on Saturday evening as we cruised to the three points against 10-man Crystal Palace, making it three wins on the spin to climb up to eighth in the Premier League table.
After victories over Coventry City and Chelsea, we completed the sequence of league wins against teams beginning with ‘C’ after a goal in each half from Archie Gray and Jan Paul van Hecke saw us home against the Eagles at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men just 13 minutes into the game after Jean-Philippe Mateta was given a straight red card for a foul on Micky van de Ven and we took full advantage, enjoying 80 per cent possession and having 34 shots, nine on target.
The good news continued on the night with more minutes under his belt for substitute Dejan Kulusevski following his lengthy injury lay-off, while there was also a Premier League debut for 18-year-old Academy product Luca Williams-Barnett.
The game took a while to get going on a chilly evening in N17, very little action of note in the opening 10 minutes but once the chances started to come, there were plenty of them. It was the visitors with the first opportunity as Palace worked the ball into a good position with Yeremy Pino and Mateta combining to find Daichi Kamada, who hit a fierce shot which Antonin Kinsky saved well.
Just a minute later though came a big moment as Mateta slid in on van de Ven to try win the ball on half-way but caught our skipper on his Achilles. Referee Michael Oliver initially showed the Palace forward a yellow card but upgraded it to a straight red after a VAR review and the visitors were down to 10 men early in the contest.
Naturally that changed Palace’s game strategy as they immediately dropped everyone in behind the ball which allowed us to dictate the tempo. And after a spell of pressure, we broke the deadlock in the 25th minute, Mohammed Kudus floating over a corner to the back post which Gray met with a lovely header back across goal past Dean Henderson. Incredibly, of Gray’s three goals in our colours, two have been headers against the Eagles!
It was just what we needed and we continued to play on the front foot, causing problems in the Palace box with a string of dangerous crosses, Chris Richards in particular defending really well on one occasion to prevent Dominic Solanke from getting a clean header on goal. Andy Robertson then stung the palms of Henderson with a vicious 25-yard shot.
We took our one-goal advantage into the half-time break but so nearly doubled it just two minutes into the second period. Another Kudus corner was headed away as far Mateus Fernandes on the edge of the area and his volley was heading in until Dwight McNeil diverted it just wide. The Portuguese midfielder tried his luck again a minute later, this time sending a shot just over the crossbar, before Solanke received substitute Pedro Porro’s ball just inside the box, swivelled and hit a shot which Henderson saved well.
It was very much one-way traffic at this stage and Fernandes again went close with a controlled 20-yard drive which was blocked by Axel Disasi, while van Hecke scooped a shot over the bar from a Robertson free-kick. Disasi then did really well to block a Solanke effort as Palace continued to defend for their lives.
However, for all our pressure and chances, the visitors almost levelled it up in the 63rd minute when a ball into box fell kindly for McNeil, only for his shot from 10 yards to hit Solanke and we escaped. In fact, we countered immediately, Omar Marmoush leading the charge and, although his ball across for Kudus was cut out, the clearance struck Sandro Tonali and needed a smart save from Henderson to prevent a goal.
Eventually though, the pressure told and we added a second in the 73rd minute to settle the outcome. Fernandes picked the ball up out on the left flank and sent over a cross which van Hecke headed goalwards, Henderson made a great save to push the ball onto the crossbar but, as it came back down, it landed on van Hecke’s head as he sat on the floor and he nodded it over the line!
Henderson then made an excellent diving save to his right to push away a Conor Gallagher shot from 15 yards out as we kept pushing for more goals. And we really should have added to our tally in the final minutes – first Williams-Barnett dribbling past three Palace players before crossing the perfect ball which Kudus somehow diverted wide unmarked at the back post. And then Kulusevski hit a left-foot curler which was heading in until Henderson produced yet another wonderful save to tip the ball over the bar.
Match data
Spurs (4-2-3-1): Kinsky, Gray (Pedro Porro 46), van Hecke, van de Ven (c), Robertson (Udogie 77), M Fernandes, Tonali, Kudus, Marmoush (Kulusevski 77), Tel (Williams-Barnett 88), Solanke (Gallagher 66). Substitutes (not used): Dubravka, Senesi, Davies, Maddison.
Crystal Palace (3-4-2-1): Henderson (c), Richards, Disasi, Canvot, Mingueza (Khalaili 60), Wharton (Lerma 88), Kamada (Hughes 88), Mitchell, McNeil (Osorio 77), Pino (Nketiah 60), Mateta. Substitutes (not used): Benitez, Doucoure, Guessand, Chilwell.
Match data
Goals: Spurs – Gray 25, van Hecke 73.
Yellow cards: Spurs – Gray; Crystal Palace – Mingueza.
Red card: Crystal Palace – Mateta.
Referee: Michael Oliver.
Venue: Tottenham Hotspur.
Weather: Clear skies, light winds, 11 degrees.
Attendance: 60,549.