Crystal Palace 1-2 Tottenham (Ayew 90+4 | Ward OG 53’, Son 66’)
SELHURST PARK — It started more gory, gory than glory, glory, but another week will pass with Tottenham Hotspur top of the Premier League after a 2-1 victory at Crystal Palace.
The “special” atmosphere surrounding the club’s title charge, of which its players speak so glowingly, will only swell further. The subtext, that Spurs had not had a shot on target before a clumsily placed Joel Ward poked James Maddison’s shot into his own net, will matter to Ange Postecoglou, but not to the number-counters in charge of the top flight table.
A little patience was needed. Once Spurs came alive, the second was peak Angeball. Pape Matar Sarr sprayed a diagonal to Maddison, whose next pass was about 35 yards shorter but no less exquisite. Brennan Johnson is already well-versed in how it works – give it to Son Heung-min and have no fears about the finish.
We are still waiting to see what happens when the first pin pricks the balloon. Their supporters are living on a heady mixture of joy and disbelief. If the whole of Antonio Conte’s last season felt like a perverse fever dream, this is getting very real.
The system stands and falls on the success of its full-backs. If the first half showed the quality of one player, it was the missing Destiny Udogie.
While he is sidelined with fatigue, the whole left flank slows and the inward runs stop. Postecoglou had the answers – Ben Davies, Udogie’s replacement, was taken off at half time and Emerson Royal brought on.
Given the way the Spurs boss used his inverted full-backs at Celtic, Royal, with his innovation and versatility, is hand-carved for a Postecoglou side.
Even when one cog is removed, the wheels still turn. Sometimes the squeaks are a little more audible, but even when Tottenham are not at their best, Maddison seems to find a way. Protect him at all costs.
And for all the talk of Micky van de Ven as the signing of the summer, Guglielmo Vicario continues to stake his own claim.
Few have been troubled by Palace’s attackers this season – especially while Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise remain out – but when Will Hughes was able to find his pockets of space, Jordan Ayew and Odsonne Edouard were both able to test Vicario.
He passed both examinations with grace. Ayew only beat him in injury time from the edge of the box, with VAR overlooking an apparent handball.
Andy Madley hoped for the same. Charitable would have been an understatement for the referee’s reluctance to show a card. These days, though, Spurs do “bitty” just fine.
This is a severely depleted Palace and soon the tests will come thick and fast: Chelsea, Manchester City and Newcastle make up three of their next six games. For now, the gap is five points. Make it 26 points from 10 matches since Postecoglou started the party. Rodrigo Bentancur is back. At Spurs the feeling is immeasurable – and unfamiliar to say the least.
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