Match Report: Tactical Switch Wins Spurs the Match at Palace
A goal. That's all Crystal Palace fans will have wanted coming into this fixture to set them back on the right path to all three points. The Eagles had endured a run of five consecutive Premier League games without one coming into Saturday's welcome of Tottenham, the longest goalless run in the Premier League this season. The relief, therefore, was clear to see when Jan Vertonghen inadvertendly turned into his own net on the half hour mark, ending a run of 482 minutes without a goal in England's top tier. The last time Palace fans celebrated such an occasion was Lee Chung-yong's winner in the 2-1 win at Stoke over a month ago.
It was against the run of play as Spurs dominated possession from the off, but rarely threatened when on the ball. This in part was due to the way Palace had set up. While playing at home, manager Alan Pardew must have been aware that Spurs would look to dominate from the outset, with the onus on counter-attacking where possible. Of course, the Palace attack rarely let the visitors' defence settle, with Connor Wickham, Wilfried Zaha, Yohan Cabaye and Jason Puncheon each pressing Hugo Lloris, Toby Alderweireld and Vertonghen as Spurs looked to play the ball out.
While Spurs more often than not were able to spread the play out wide and carry possession forward, the intensity with which Palace played when not on the ball worked in their favour. They remained extremely compact at the back and didn't allow the visiting side the space with which to exert their creative qualities. With a lack of pace on either flank afforded to the north London outfit, the hosts were able to limit Spurs' clear-cut goalscoring chances, bar a Danny Rose volley at the end of the first half which was fired straight at Wayne Hennessey.
With Spurs pushing numbers forward, Palace were happy to sit back and allow Spurs possession in non-threatening areas, waiting instead to press Mauricio Pochettino's when they did encroach on Hennessey's goal. With the pace of Puncheon and, in particular, Zaha on either wing, Palace had the personnel capable of stretching the opposition when breaking forward swiftly when they did win the ball back.
Zaha was excellent in this regard, with the England international tormenting Danny Rose over the duration of the encounter. Rose is renowned for his attacking ability from deep, but his defensive qualities remain suspect. Zaha was - ironically - a constant thorn in Rose's side, at one point leaving the Spurs left-back on the floor as he charged forward with intent on the right before firing over when trying to beat Lloris at his near post. Indeed, of the six dribbles Palace completed over the 90 minutes, Zaha was responsible for two, while the wideman forced Lloris into a fine second half stop to help return a WhoScored rating of 7.34.
However, while Palace did their best to frustrate Spurs, there was little they could do to contain the flow of attacks as the minutes ticked by. Pochettino as such warrants the praise for helping Spurs turn the screw. The Argentine has often been criticised for his substitutes in the past, yet made the right call 10 minutes into the second half to replace Eric Dier with Nacer Chadli. With Spurs in the ascendancy, there was little need for a holding midfielder, especially with Palace sitting deeper.
The decision paid dividends seven minutes after Chadli's introduction as the Belgian lofted a cross to the back post, which Harry Kane powerfully met to head past Hennessey to draw Spurs level. The move saw Dele Alli drop in alongside Mousa Dembele in the double-pivot in Spurs' 4-2-3-1 formation, offering Spurs far greater attacking presence from deep. As Spurs squeezed the space between the lines, it heaped further pressure upon Palace, who were forced to drop further back.
This culminated in a goal of the season contender from Alli, who in one move controlled an Eriksen header, looped the ball over Mile Jedinak before volleying past Hennessey from 20 yards. It was a strike of the highest quality from one of the Young Player of the Year candidates and, with Roy Hodgson watching on, he will indeed have been impressed from what he saw from Alli, with the teenager securing the WhoScored man of the match award with a rating of 8.80.
The goal, though, came as a result of Pochettino's tactical change. Alli was always going to be closely marked by the Palace midfield, with the young England international starved of space. In a deeper role, however, he was able to break forward unopposed and he punished the hosts as a result, coming close to adding a second in the dying embers having struck the woodwork, before providing the assist for Chadli to secure all three points with a wonderful curling effort in injury time.
Of course, it remains a game of fine margins as Palace manager Alan Pardew spoke of in the return fixture at White Hart Lane earlir this season. The home side twice struck the woodwork in quick succession with the score level courtesy of Scott Dann and Jedinak and, had one of those efforts found the back of the net, it's feasible to suggest Palace will have gone on to secure victory. Nevertheless, Spurs come away from Selhurst Park the happier of the two teams in a game they deserved to win, given their dominance in possession from the off.
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