Crystal Palace 2-0 Tottenham: Report, Ratings & Reaction as Eagles Soar Into Fifth Round
Crystal Palace were responsible for Tottenham Hotspur's second cup exit in four days on Sunday night, as the Eagles secured a comfortable 2-0 win in front of their home crowd, ensuring their progression to the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Spurs dominated possession in the early exchanges making it all the more surprising when they found themselves 1-0 down in the ninth minute as Connor Wickham bundled in after Paulo Gazzaniga parried Jeffrey Schlupp's initial effort. It will be of little relevance to the 25-year-old that the ball bounced in off his knee from two yards out, as the goal was his first in 799 days.
On the 34 minute mark, an act of stupidity from stand-in full back Kyle Walker-Peters gifted the hosts a penalty, as the 21-year-old handled a deep Wilfried Zaha cross. Andros Townsend stepped up and duly converted from the spot but refused to celebrate doubling his side's lead out of respect for his former employers.
Ten minutes later, referee Kevin Friend awarded Tottenham a penalty of their own and handed the vistors the chance to redeem themselves from their miserable exhibition of spot-kicks at Stamford Bridge earlier in the week.
With arguably their four best penalty takers absent, Kieran Trippier was the man to shoulder the responsibility of halving the deficit. However, on a blustery day at Selhurst Park, the ball didn't appear to sit still on the spot, and the Englishman failed to convert, blasting well wide.
The pattern of the second half mimicked that of the first in that Tottenham's possession counted for nothing once more and looked uninterested to remain in the competition at best. The result leaves the north London side competing on just two fronts this term, having started the week still in all four competitions.
Meanwhile, it is Palace's first win against Premier League opposition in this competition in four attempts and Roy Hodgson will be watching tomorrow's draw with great intrigue, unlike his Argentinian counterpart.
Here's our breakdown of this one.
Crystal Palace
Key Talking Point
Despite being overrun in the middle of the park, Palace were unrelenting in their desire to keep Tottenham at bay and rarely looked troubled in the final third. An inspired performance from Julian Speroni, along with a stubborn display from his back line, disheartened the Tottenham attackers who never truly looked like overturning the two-goal deficit.
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Last time Palace beat Tottenham in an FA Cup tie, the Eagles went on to reach the final and Roy Hodgson will be hoping to emulate a similar run this time round, having knocked out worthy Premier League opposition in Tottenham on Sunday.
Player Ratings
Starting XI: Speroni (8); Ward (8), Kelly (7), Dann (7), Van Aanholt (5); Meyer (6), Kouyate (6), Schlupp (6); Townsend (9), Wickham (7), Zaha (6)
Substitutes: Milivojevic (4), Benteke (4), Ayew (N/A)
STAR MAN - Andros Townsend
The former Spurs winger seemed determined to prove a point to the man who sold him three years ago. Townsend saw out his defensive duties with some aplomb, and was often the man to launch the counter attacks to provide his hard-working defence with some much needed respite.
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Honourable mention - Julian Speroni
Though the Argentine didn't have much to do, on the odd occasion he was called upon, the 39-year-old was up to the test and pulled off an incredible double save in the first half to starve Tottenham of hope of getting back into the tie.
Tottenham
Key Talking Point
Even though Mauricio Pochettino made seven changes from the Chelsea game in midweek, his side looked wearisome for large periods of the game. With their creative sparks missing, Spurs created very few clear-cut chances, with their best coming from the spot in the first half.
If Pochettino needed another reason to delve into the transfer market before Thursday's deadline, then surely today's game is all the evidence he needs. The result means Tottenham's only chance of silverware is in the Champions League, which seems out of the question as their depleted squad go up against a high-flying Dortmund side in a fortnight's time.
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Player Ratings
Starting XI: Gazzaniga (5); Trippier (4), Sanchez (5), Foyth (6), Vertonghen (4), Walker-Peters (3); Dier (5), Skipp (5); Nkoudou (3), Llorente (4), Lucas (6)
Substitutes: Wanyama (6), Lamela (6*), Sterling (N/A)
STAR MAN - Erik Lamela
It is a difficult task to find a shining light from this miserable Tottenham performance, with the north London failing to respond to Palace's two first-half goals.
However, Pochettino called on his compatriot to turn around his side's half time deficit, and, though he didn't manage to find the net, Lamela shone in the mere 45 minutes he was given, with the majority of Tottenham's second-half attacks going through the Argentinian trickster.
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WORST PLAYER - Kyle Walker-Peters
Afraid to say, the youngster once again failed to impress on the big stage, with another defensive error leading to Palace's second goal.
Though he regularly found himself in potentially profitable positions in the final third, the 21-year-old's end product let him down on several occasions and still appears unfit to be regularly facing Premier League opposition.
Looking Ahead
Whilst everything seems to be going against Tottenham at the moment, Pochettino will not have long to lick his wounds as his side are back in action on Wednesday night against Watford.
Having been dumped out of both domestic competitions this week, Pochettin will likely prioritise the league and securing Champions League football for next term.
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Meanwhile, Crystal Palace will be looking forward to tomorrow night's fifth round draw, before they travel to the south coast to face Southampton on Wednesday night.
