Tottenham suffered a shock 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace in the Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur seemed to have found a bit of form this season after a patchy start to the 2024/25 campaign.
Indeed, the north Londoners had won seven of their last eight games in all competitions and things were looking up for them, before Sunday when they travelled to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace.
With no wins in the opening eight Premier League games, Oliver Glasner has been under pressure at Crystal Palace. So, Big Ange’s Tottenham—having won games against West Ham and AZ Alkmaar after the international break—were clearly the favourites on paper heading into the game.
However, as we’ve witnessed season after season, Spurs failed to build on their winning momentum and lost to the Eagles. A first-half strike from Jean-Philippe Mateta turned out to be enough to sink Big Ange’s side.
ESPN FC pundit Nedum Onuoha slammed Tottenham’s performance at Selhurst Park, stating he “expected a better showing” after getting some rhythm back of late.
“Going to Crystal Palace that hadn’t won a league game all season, I think you expect a better showing from Spurs who felt like they are coming into a good run of form at least, but I think as I say when you are talking about fight like you are in the Premier League that should be the bare minimum and the quality comes on top of that,” Nedum Onuoha said in a panel discussion on ESPN FC.
“So, for them [Spurs] to not have it today to not be able to break that side like every other team so far has been able to do when playing against Crystal Palace, I think is a big blow for them and you know something I am sure needs to be addressed.”
Truly, Tottenham were awful for large parts of the game. We dominated possession but weren’t clever with our passing and movement, lacked energy and ran out of ideas in the end to break a stubborn Palace defence.
Big Ange handed academy kid Mikey Moore his maiden Premier League start, rewarding him for his dazzling display against AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League in midweek. However, Moore had a tough afternoon and failed to weave his magic, while in-form Dejan Kulusevski had a quiet outing.
The defeat to our London rivals left Big Ange’s side eighth in the Premier League table, five points adrift of fourth-place Aston Villa. The Greek-Australian tactician would have been extremely disappointed with his boys’ latest display.
-> Ex-scout doubts winter Tottenham move for £30 million rated Premier League striker
A stirring response will be expected on Wednesday evening when we host Manchester City in the EFL Cup round of 16.
