Tottenham beats Crystal Palace 3-1 and bolsters grip on 4th

LONDON (AP) A remarkable acrobatic goal by Dele Alli propelled Tottenham past Crystal Palace 3-1 and tightened their grip on a top-four spot in the English Premier League on Saturday.

Palace, condemned to a third straight defeat, deservedly led early despite it being through Jan Vertonghen's own goal. Palace forced Spurs to shoot in hope rather than with confidence, and even after Harry Kane leveled, Palace could have retaken the lead as it hit the crossbar twice.

That made Alli's winning score in the 84th minute all the more special, as the 19-year-old England international fearlessly produced one of the goals of the season.

Christian Eriksen headed Kane's cross to Alli, who was 25 yards out and seemingly without options. But he took one touch to control the ball, another to flick it up and back over his and Mille Jedinak's heads, and a third to volley it into the bottom left corner.

Alli hit the crossbar in the final minutes, and substitute Nacer Chadli curled in the third in injury time.