Just when scrutiny surrounding Tottenham Hotspur's worrying performances was intensifying, Harry Kane found the perfect solution to his side’s growing concerns with two quickfire goals at the start of the second half.
On his 300th league appearance, his brace was rounded off by goals from Matt Doherty and Heung-Min Son to put Spurs' top-four hopes back within arm's length.
What turned out to be a game of two halves started with Crystal Palace playing the better football in the first 45 minutes.
Failing to convert their chances on the night, as Michael Olise amassed opportunities for his teammates on more than one occasion, ultimately cost The Eagles three points after the halftime whistle seemingly killed their rhythm.
A second-half dismantling left Patrick Vieira with one eye on the transfer window as his team's need for signings was reinforced.
While the final 45 minutes saw Spurs gleam, The Eagles fell apart.
Fortunately, Palace remain seven points above the dropzone. but a run of fixtures against Chelsea, Newcastle United, Manchester United and rivals Brighton furnishes a worrying sight for the south London club after shipping 10 goals without response over their last two home games.
The victory for Spurs came at the right time for them as they glance ahead to potentially title-deciding matches against Arsenal and Manchester City.
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Story of the match
Coming into the fixture looking to build on their 2-0 victory against Bournemouth on the south coast at the weekend, Patrick Vieira stuck by the safe opinion that 'if it isn't broken, don't try to fix it' by naming an unchanged lineup.
Across the other side of the dugout, Antonio Conte would have hoped to see the return of influential figures to his starting lineup at the turn of the year.
But with just one point from his last two matches, against opponents that sit below Spurs in the table, his squad's fitness issues haven't eased.
Instead, the introductions to the starting eleven for Oliver Skipp and Eric Dier in place of Yves Bissouma and Ben Davies bored resemblance to a swivel-eyed gamble to prompt a reaction from his team following Spurs' New Year's Day defeat to Aston Villa.
The discourse before the night twitched towards the habits of the North London side to concede first. In their previous ten games, a run that stretched as far back as October, Spurs had picked the ball out of their own net before scoring themselves.
But while the first 30 minutes flew by without Palace exacerbating that record, it didn't come without its chances for the home side.
Spurs may have won the possession game, with diagonal balls aplenty, but The Eagles asked the more pressing questions.
Jordan Ayew should have taken Michael Olise's pass into his stride better in the opening minutes before Palace's number-one chance-creator this season produced another opportunity from out wide, sending a floating cross into the path of Wilfried Zaha, who couldn't leap high enough.
As the first half-hour embarked on a cyclical structure, Palace found their best chance in the form of the man who started things.
Able to gather the ball in the box this time - Ayew's left-footed shot was met by grievances from Zaha as he saw Olise take up a better position to score.
The decision to shoot proved expensive to The Eagles’ fighting chance of victory.
Nevertheless, the attempt, which was saved down low by Hugo Lloris from close range, inspired Palace to finish the half as the better side.
Joachim Andersen's speculative strike from 25 yards was mimicked to less seat-nudging effect by Eberechi Eze, and Palace's 27 touches in the Spurs box in the final 15 minutes was far greater than the visitors' two.
More essential to either side, however, was the final result. Neither team scored before the break, setting up an intriguing second half.
Taking the lead first was becoming an outlandish addition to anyone's betting slip this season, and had the second half finished how the first ended, that could've been more unerring.
Yet, whatever Conte told his players at halftime worked.
Coming onto the pitch much sooner after the break than expected, it took the visitors just three minutes before they revoked their toothless display earlier in the night.
Finally moving up a gear, Ivan Perišić shaped a cross into the direction of the back post for Kane to attack. The striker beat his defender to score on his 300th league appearance.
As quickly as he scored his first of the night, Kane added a second after he barrelled into the box and slotted the ball into the bottom left corner beyond Vicente Guaita's outstretched arm.
While Palace's sights were homed in on capitalising on their opponent's weaknesses in the first half - within eight minutes of the second, their dreams were dashed.
Although they threw on Jean-Phillipe Mateta in the sanguine hankering of getting back into the match, a third and fourth goal from Spurs in the 69th and 72nd minute gave Conte the tonic he was looking for.
Heung-Min Son first set up Matt Doherty before he broke through on goal himself and stroked in his first goal in nine matches past a helpless and rattled-looking Palace defence.
The effigy of Son's smile returning was worth its weight in gold for Spurs fans alone.
The South Korean has been discoloured this season, showing signs of a hangover from his golden boot triumph in the 2021/22 campaign.
But a strafing display from the visitors in the second half provided the left-sided attacker with a medium to regain the self-conviction he had mysteriously lost this term.
Such is the way Spurs' attacking players performed in the second half - their defensive command of keeping out Palace's efforts went largely unheralded.
Make no mistake about it though, the North Londoner's second-half performance was the perfect way to get their European objectives back in reach.
For Palace, the collapse was a forbidding reminder that the squad needs a lot of work in the January transfer window.
Just three days after a refreshing victory over Bournemouth, The Eagles showed defensive decrepitude and frustration upfront to drop three points that were there for the taking at the start of the match.
They tried to salvage a consolation and came close through Ayew and Zaha, but in the end an uninspiring night was brought to a close and attention turned to the FA Cup on Saturday.
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Player of the match - Harry Kane
Everything he did shimmered in class. Kane scored twice on a night where Spurs needed it most, setting up a second half that made up for the first-half concerns.
His brace on Wednesday night saw him break Alan Shearer's Premier League record of most goals in 300 matches and places him two goals behind Jimmy Greaves in Tottenham's all-time top goalscorer's list.
At his goalscoring best, the Englishman is world-class. His showing against Palace perhaps answered the question over whether he will become the Premier League’s record goalscorer or not.
