2  Joel WARD
  6  Scott DANN     
27  Damien DELANEY
34  Martin KELLY

28  Joe LEDLEY

42  Jason PUNCHEON      
18  James McARTHUR
25  Barry BANNON       (  8  Adlene GUEDIOURA 46     )
16  Dwight GAYLE    (10  Frazier CAMPBELL 87     )

 17  Glenn MURRAY  (11  Wilfried ZAHA 74)

Unused subs: 
13  Wayne HENNESSEY
  3  Adrian MARIAPPA
  4  Brede HANGELAND
14  Jerome THOMAS


 

  2  Kyle WALKER
  5  Jan VERTONGHEN
21  Federico FAZIO     
  3  Danny ROSE

25  Benjamin STAMBOULI       (  9  Roberto SOLDADO 75)
19  Mousa DEMBELE

17  Andros TOWNSEND       (29  Etienne CAPOUE 69)
23  Christian ERIKSEN 
22  Nacer CHADLI

18  Harry KANE 

Unused subs: 
13  Michel VORM
33  Ben DAVIES
  4  Younes KABOUL
  7  Aaron LENNON
  8  PAULINHO
 

As always with Spurs, the magnificent disposal of Chelsea was followed by a struggle against a struggling side in Crystal Palace and the 1-2 defeat came in a game that Spurs should have done better in, but failed to keep the tempo up to trouble the home side.

As soon as the game began, Palace looked to hit on the break, but Spurs had lots of possession and the home team got ten players back behind the ball as soon as they lost it. Strange tactics as Pardew, in charge of his new team for the first time, had been manager of Newcastle United when they beat Tottenham at the Lane earlier in the season without playing like that.

Palace had an early free-kick routine which they messed up and ended putting out of play with Bannon's shot going well wide, while at the other end Kane put in a weak shot that didn't trouble Speroni.  Chadli burst past a couple of defenders before going to ground, but no penalty was given, rightly so. After that the boisterous Eagles fans booed his every touch, as the pantomime season was extended with lots of flag waving and banners adorning the ground in a choreographed display of support.

The partisan home crowd seemed to think that every time a decision went against them, it was a major injustice, but Dann got away with treading on Danny Rose's shoulder after he accidentally collided with Kelly in the Palace box. The best chance for Spurs came 22 minutes in, with Townsend and Walker linking on the right, with the full-back's low ball in deflected just a little behind Christian Eriksen, making his shot harder from eight yards out and causing him to put it wide from in front of goal.

Dwight Gayle's left wing cross found McArthur with a free header, but he failed to control it and it went high over Lloris' goal and when Townsend lost the ball to Kelly inside his own half, he pulled the defender back as he looked to go forward and got a yellow card. The resulting free-kick was played into the box, causing confusion from Delaney's downwards header, but a high foot as Fazio went to head the ball gave Spurs a free-kick.

The bare patches on Palace's pitch was making it look like it had been played on all season instead of it being brand new, but it was Spurs who were keeping it on the ground, while Palace looked to play more directly. Dembele made a good left wing run and Chadli's header had to be headed away from in front of the line.  But ten minutes before the break, Palace should have scored. McArthur's intended effort on goal went right to Glenn Murray, alone in front of Hugo. He took his shot early and tried to play it under Lloris, but the Spurs keeper got a bit of thigh on it and the ball bounced wide of the goal.

Tottenham kept playing the ball on the floor and put pressure on the Palace last third, but with no clear chances. Apart from a couple of bookings, there was little to talk about as the half came to a close.

Palace started the second half quicker and Vertonghen did well to hook a cross away from the waiting Murray and then Spurs defended a corner well after Lloris had punched it up in the air. Against the run of play in this half, a Spurs break broke down when Townsend back-heeled the ball in the Palace area but it went behind Walker, but when Fazio won the ball back on the halfway line, it was worked forward to Chadli in the inside left position and his pass found Kane, who steadied himself to fire a shot through Kelly's legs and low past a static Speroni. So, three minutes into the half, Tottenham had gone ahead with their main goal-scorer once more finding the net.

A cheap free-kick was given to Palace on their right wing and when it came in Delaney headed down and Gayle prodded it at goal, but it went straight to Hugo, who took it at the second attempt. Another free-kick almost followed the same routine as ever for Palace, with Gayle trying an overhead kick, but it hit Vertonghen and took all the pace off it.   Just before the hour a couple of heavy touches stopped Spurs having good openings, with Kane's head on to Chadli just pushed too far ahead as he approached the area and then another by Andros Townsend took the ball towards a defender when he might have had a run on goal.

The game had died for about seven minutes until a ball itn the box saw Stambouli slide in and take Ledley down for a penalty, much to everyone in a white shirt's surprise. Gayle stepped up to put it into the corner to Lloris' right to tie the score at 1-1.

Walker's ball up the right saw Kane touch it past a defender and take the ball into the box where he was crowded out by three Palace men, then Capoue's cross in was met with a glancing header by Harry, but the ball was off target and ran through to an off-side Chadli.  Stambouli was replaced by Soldado as Pochettino made a positive move. Almost immediately, Pardew was screaming for another penalty when the ball hit Walker's arm as he was facing away from it, but then Puncheon stood on Lloris' neck and only got a yellow card. Perhaps a number of decisions could be questioned.

Spurs were getting ragged and when Zaha took the ball past two defenders on the left and pulled the ball back, Puncheon was there to sweep the ball in to the bottom left hand corner of Lloris' net to give Palace the lead.

Straight away Spurs worked a chance with Dembele finding Eriksen on the edge of the box and his shot was deflected wide. When play continued, Spurs won another corner and after some head tennis, Vertonghen headed through to Speroni. Kane hit a shot into the Palace keeper's midriff at the near post after Chadli back-heeled the ball to him and then Kane went down under challenge from Ledley in the Palace area, but it didn't look like a penalty.

The referee Taylor was very inconsistent in his awards today, with Palace getting a lot of decisions, obviously persuaded by the crowd, but Spurs got little and did not go down as easily as the home players. Scott Dann's cynical trip on Kane on the halfway line as he got turned was given a yellow, but was possibly worth more for the nature of it's intent.

When Zaha got away on the left, he failed to beat Lloris at the near post and then some pushing and shoving brought yellow cards for Campbell and Fazio. As Spurs got more frantic in putting the ball into the Palace box, it played into their hands with four giant defenders. Capoue's 30 yard effort swerved as it reached the keeper, but he smothered it at the second attempt and as Tottenham pushed up, Zaha had another clear run and his shot was beaten out by Lloris and the game came to an end with Palace coming from behind to win.

The Palace penalty looked questionable from some angles, with Stambouli sliding in, but not looking to have touched Ledley. While the game slipped away from Spurs, the home side looked more adventurous in the second half and earn a vital three points in their relegation struggle.

Kirk Hammerton