11 May 2025
Tottenham 0 Crystal Palace 2
Tottenham welcomed Crystal Palace for a London derby off the back of a positive night in Europe in midweek. Both of these teams have big finals to look forward to in the coming weeks but The Eagles still put a strong side out in this game. Ange Postecoglou rang the changes from the team that got a result for them out in Norway.
The Eagles were finding it all too easy to play through Tottenham in the early stages. A ball was played into Mateta on the halfway line, before he laid it off to Eze. His threaded pass picked out Munoz in acres of space, before he squared it for Sarr to tap in at the back post. However, the celebrations were cut short as VAR ruled it out for offside.
With semi-automated offsides we are now treated to a computer graphic to show how the decision was made. In this instance, it showed how Mateta’s arm was in an offside position. How they can disallow a goal for a part of the body that you cannot score with being in an advanced position is nothing short of ridiculous. PGMOL summed up in one incident right there.
It didn’t seem to faze the visitors as they continued to pile on the pressure. Munoz put in another teasing cross into the box, which was chested behind by Porro. As Eze’s cross came in, Tottenham failed to clear their lines and it dropped to Mateta at the near post. Fortunately for the hosts, Kinsky reacted quickly to make a timely block to deny the Frenchman.
Whenever Crystal Palace came forward, they looked like scoring. Mateta strode forward with the ball before laying it off into the path of Munoz. With everyone expecting a cross into the box, the full-back unleashed a shot that crashed against the crossbar and went over. So close to finally breaking the deadlock for Oliver Glasner’s side.
Crystal Palace were absolutely annihilating Tottenham in everything but scoreline. Mateta played it into Munoz who did not even look at the goal and immediately tried to roll it back into the path of his striker to tap home. The pass was too far ahead of the Frenchman but the flag went up for offside nevertheless, another let off for Spurs.
Sarr had a brief glimpse of goal in a wide position but as he pulled the trigger, Davies made a superb sliding tackle to deflect it over the bar for a corner. It just seemed a matter of time before the visitors broke the deadlock now. Munoz was then put in and got ahead of Bentancur, as two defenders and the keeper closed him down, he slid it into Eze to roll into an unguarded goal.
The Eagles had looked impressive against this lacklustre Tottenham side. If Pep Guardiola was watching this, he may have some concerns for his impending FA Cup final date with them. On this form the front three of Sarr, Mateta and Eze is as good as any other in the Premier League. Add to that the attacking full-backs of Munoz and Mitchell and it is a big concern.
After the interval, Spurs seemed to take no inspiration from whatever their manager said to them, all we can know for sure is that the word ‘mate’ featured strongly. As an attack for the hosts broke down, Palace countered with pace. Eze played a sublime pass through the heart of Tottenham to pick out Sarr out wide, who drove into the space in front of him.
It seemed like he tried a shot initially but the block gifted the ball straight back to him. As he looked up, he could see teammate Eze arriving into space. He cushioned a pass into his path and the Palace talisman stroked it into the back of the net to double the lead for Oliver Glasner’s side. The stadium fell silent apart from the away end which erupted into celebration.
Mateta almost added another as he tapped the ball around Danso and ran onto it. Sadly for the Frenchman, he drilled the ball at Kinsky who beat it away. It almost proved costly as the hosts got forward and Porro put in a teasing cross into the back post. Sarr met it but his header was poor as it angled off his head well wide of the target.
Nketiah had the chance to rub salt in the wound as a superb pass sent him clean through on goal. With only the keeper to beat, the former Arsenal man looked to bend a low shot into the far corner but Kinsky got down well to make a save and gather the ball at the second time of asking. He was keeping this scoreline fairly respectable but the Spurs’ fans were leaving in their droves.
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