Spurs away day blues continue: Five things we learned from Crystal Palace 1-0 Tottenham | OneFootball

Tottenham lost ground on the teams above them in the race for a top four place after they were defeated 1-0 by Crystal Palace.

Jean Philippe Mateta scored the decisive goal after 30 minutes of a scrappy game in which Spurs never got into their groove as Palace broke up their rhythm in what Ange Postecoglou called a ‘stop-start’ game that was tough viewing for the neutral.

But pure joy for Palace fans, who were singing “Glad All Over” with gusto on the final whistle as they secured first league win of the season.

Here are five things we learned…

Frustrated Ange

Ange Postecoglou must be tearing his hair out watching this Jekyll-and-Hyde Tottenham team flip-flip between top-four contenders and mid-table mediocrity. After putting four goals past West Ham last week in a stylish rout, they were back to their worst, the sort of form that saw them slump at Brighton before the last international break. At least they scored two and played well for 45 minutes at the Amex – in this shocker at Selhurst they were poor in the first half and worse after the break.

Eagles can fly higher

Palace are better than their league place and form had suggested. Oliver Glasner transformed the Eagles when he arrived midway through last season and many tipped them to be competing for European honours this time. But they were in the relegation zone at the start of the day after a terrible run of luck and results. This gritty win over Tottenham showed Palace can grind out victories if they all work hard together, and though they still aren’t prolific, they caught Spurs on a bad day and one goal was enough.

Awayday misery continues

Tottenham’s players need to reset their mindset when they travel away from home. In four games so far, they have won only once, at Manchester United, while drawing with Leicester and losing to Brighton and Palace. Postecoglou was clearly frustrated that they got drawn into a physical battle with Palace, who were happy to scrap it out. At one point three players went down with head injuries in the space of ten minutes, and there plenty of other injury-related delays that disrupted the game constantly. “We needed to stay composed and not fall into the trap of trying to play the game Palace wanted to play,”he said “It was battle after battle, duels, stop starts, waiting around.”

Palace’s fans give them the edge

There are few grounds in the Premier League that match Selhurst for hostility – to the opposition, the officials and anyone not in red and blue – when Palace’s fans get going. The Holmsdale End has a constant drum beat and stream of songs for 90 minutes, but even in the rest of the home areas (you can’t call them ‘post seats’ because Selhurst is still very old school) fans are vocal about any perceived injustice -even a throw taken a yard farther down the line – and not afraid to let the ref and his assistants know it.

Tottenham need to turn it round quickly

Spurs play Manchester City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday and Aston Villa in the league next Sunday, and results will have a huge impact on the mood around the club ahead of the next international break. Lose both games and they will be out of one of the more winnable cups and effectively out of contention for a top four finish. On the other hand, if they can get back to winning ways, things will look a lot rosier.