Crystal Palace 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur
A second-half strike by Juan Foyth gave Spurs another three priceless points and dumped Crystal Palace into early-season trouble.
There’s a long way to go, but this win took Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs to within two points of the Premier League summit and left the Eagles outside the drop zone on goal difference alone.
On a wet and windy night at Selhurst Park, football wasn’t easy to play with any great fluency. But Spurs did enough to win while the Eagles were not without their chances. Our SBOBET tips pointed to a closely fought encounter to give Palace every chance of a result. They almost nicked a draw at the death but it wasn’t to be.
Highlights of the game
The Eagles’ danger man Wilfried Zaha was left out of the squad to face Spurs after suffering a hamstring injury, and that puts more pressure on Andros Townsend up front. But he started well: he stood up a cross which reached Cheik Kouyate, and his shot was blocked by Lucas Moura. And then when he had his own chance from a tight angle, Townsend fired his effort into the side netting. It was a bright start by the hosts.
In a hard-fought win away to Wolves, Spurs showed plenty of fighting spirit to win a game which was their third in six days. Mauricio Pochettino decided to rest Christian Eriksen while giving him a place on the bench, though Dele Alli made a start. And the striker should have done better when Ben Davies found him in space 12 yards only for his free header to fly wide.
Harry Kane had his first shot at goal on the half-hour which Palace keeper Wayne Hennessey did well to keep it out. And as the first half neared an end, Spurs were well on the front foot.
But it were the Eagles who threatened in the early stages of the second, and James Tomkins had two big chances with headers; he planted the first over the bar and the second wide of the post. Then Harry Kane had a chance at the other end, but he, too, headed over the bar under pressure.
The breakthrough came on 66 minutes, and from an unlikely source, when Harry Kane met a corner. And as Palace failed to clear, Juan Foyth headed home from close range. It was his first league goal for Spurs, and it was quite a contrast to last week when he gave away two penalties on his debut!
Palace tried to work their way back into the game and they had a golden chance to equalise in the first minute of injury time. Alexander Sorloth had a one-on-one with Hugo Lloris after a deflected shot fell into his path, but he smashed his shot straight at the Spurs keeper.
Game over!
Key Statistics
Spurs dominated the ball with 65 per cent possession, but the shot count was level at 11 each. The visitors looked after the ball well, with 83 per cent passing accuracy, while the Palace players found it harder to reach each other with their accuracy down at 66 per cent. That’s one in every three passes missing the target.
Roy Hodgson’s Eagles are on a difficult run and have now lost six of their last seven games, while Spurs have made it four wins on the bounce.
Crystal Palace’s reliance on Zaha is rather worrying; they have now lost the last 12 games in which the forward hasn’t started. And that puts huge pressure on his team-mates.
But they shouldn’t have been too surprised by this result; they have now lost their last seven Premier League games against Spurs, scoring only once.
What’s next?
This was a good win for Mauricio Pochettino’s lads, and Spurs fans will be keeping their eyes on tomorrow’s Premier League 2018 updates as the other top-five teams are all in action with home games.
And then there’s another cracking London derby up next for Spurs when they host Chelsea in the teatime fixture on November 24th.
The Premier League 2018 betting markets haven’t really featured the Eagles as relegation candidates, but they are only outside the drop zone on goal difference, and it doesn’t get any easier after the international break.
Roy Hodgson takes his team to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United, who have become very hard to beat under Jose Mourinho and are in the habit of beating their opponents 2-1. Eagles fans will be hoping Wilfried Zaha makes a speedy recovery…or we know how that will turn out!
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
