Spurs 2-0 Palace | Roberto De Zerbi’s verdict
Roberto De Zerbi liked the maturity of the team as we dominated 10-man Crystal Palace in a 2-0 victory in the Premier League at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
We started well, but Jean-Phillipe Mateta’s straight red card – upgraded from a yellow after a VAR check – for a challenge on Micky van de Ven after just 13 minutes saw Palace change system to 5-3-1, five defenders backed by three midfielders in a low block.
That was always going to make it tough to crack them open – 34 efforts at goal showed how we kept knocking at the door.
In the end, Archie Gray’s header from Mo Kudus’ corner on 25 minutes and Jan Paul van Hecke’s reaction on the ground to nod home after his header was tipped onto the crossbar by Dean Henderson on 73 minutes did the job.
“It was a tough game, even if they played with 10 players for a big part of the game, but the style of defence when you face Crystal Palace is very tough, very tough for us, for all teams, especially now we are improving in the principles, in our quality of the play, and playing in the small spaces is never easy.
“Moving the ball so quickly like we have done is not easy, but the guys were fantastic because they showed to be mature, to be focused and to have a clear idea. We could have scored more goals, but it was a great performance.”
Asked about the performance out of possession and the desire to win the ball back, Roberto added: “I think the best thing the players showed today was the reaction when we lost the ball, like animals. It was very important, because if we played in their half of the pitch, it was okay because we were one player more, but also because the transition was unbelievable.”
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Roberto added: “Today, the best thing of the team, they showed to be mature. They knew what we had to do with the ball, not to take stupid risks and to concede counter-attack, even with one player more.”