It was a game that really had an end-of-season feel to it. Crystal Palace had very little to play for. Since their 2-0 away win against Bournemouth on the opening weekend of Project Restart.
The Eagles have had a tough time of it; Roy Hodgson’s side were on their worst run under the former England manager, with seven straight losses hanging like a dark cloud over Hodgson’s future at the south London club.
Spurs came into this match looking to cement 6th spot in the Premier League table and an automatic qualifying place in next season’s Europa League. Failure to do so would leave José Mourinho’s side relying on Chelsea to beat Arsenal in the FA Cup final.
Story of the match:
It took Spurs less than 15 minutes to open the scoring following sloppy defensive play from the Eagles. In the 13th minute, Giovani Lo Celso pounced on a loose ball just in front of the Palace penalty area.
The Argentine slipped the ball through the Palace defence to Harry Kane, who hit a right-footed shot past Vincente Guaita with ease into the bottom left-hand corner to make it 0-1 to the North Londoners and give Mourinho’s side the early lead.
Following the drinks break, Palace’s first opportunity fell to Jeffrey Schlupp, who in the 27th minute, struck a fierce volley goal bound. His shot had power but lacked direction as it was straight down the throat of Hugo Lloris.
Palace started to grow into the game with 20-year-old left back, Tyrick Mitchell, linking up well with Schlupp and Wilfried Zaha down the left-hand side. Palace lacked a presence in the box, however, to really trouble the Spurs defence from Mitchell’s crosses into the box.
Palace made the last 10 minutes of the first half their own, with WIlfired Zaha and Andros Townsend driving at the Spurs defence, looking to carve out an opportunity to get Palace back into the game prior to half time.
But it was the same story the Eagles’ have read all season. Hodgson’s side are the second lowest scorers in the division and lacked a focal point in attack to bury the chances.
Toby Alderweireld nearly doubled Spurs’ lead straight after half time, when in the 47th minute, the Belgian international glanced a header goal-bound after rising highest to connect with a Le Celso corner; luckily for Palace, the ball whistled inches over the bar.
Palace carried over their pressure from the first half into the second, determined not to allow themselves to fall to an eight straight Premier League defeat.
Their hard work paid off when Jeffery Schlupp levelled the scoring in the 53rd minute, achieving his third goal of the season, following a Jordan Ayew miss hit in the box which fell to Schlupp who hammered a shot towards goal to make it 1-1.
Lucas Moura was close to catching Palace off guard only five minutes after the equaliser. The Brazilian connected beautifully with a Ben Davies cross, but his shot from just outside the box went agonisingly wide of Guaita’s post.
Palace came close again after a cross from Joel Ward bamboozled Hugo Lloris, with the French goalkeeper ushering the ball out of play, only for the ball to swerve in the Selhurst wind and strike the post; spearing Lloris’ blushes.
Palace pushed Spurs from the final 15 minutes in an attempt to find the game winner. However, the Eagles’ attack met a stubborn Spurs defence who were happy to see out the point that would secure them an automatic place in next season’s Europa League.
Man of the match: Jeffrey Schlupp
Schlupp was the driving force in Palace’s midfield this afternoon; his creativity and attacking prowess have been a big miss for Roy Hodgson's side this season following the Ghanaian international missing a large chunk of the campaign due to a hip injury he picked up against Watford in December.
Schlupp was a constant presence in the midfield this afternoon and gained Palace a point today to end their seven-game losing streak thanks to a venomous strike past Hugo Lloris.
Hodgson's thoughts
The performance
“I thought it was a very positive performance against a real top quality side. If any team was to win in it, it could’ve been us; we shaded it in that respect. The important thing was to break this very unfortunate run of results that we’ve had, where I don’t think fate has been very kind to us.”
Tyrick Mitchell
“As for Tyrick, I imagine he must be absolutely delighted. He has had two incredibly difficult games in his first two starts. First of all, he has had to play against Adama Traore and today against Lucas Moura, so I think that is an incredible performance that he has done on both of those occasions."
“He’ll go into his break feeling very happy with himself and realising that I can be more than just a candidate for this position, but I can put Patrick van Aanholt under some severe competition.”