Crystal Palace (Away) 28.12.2025

It was a much-needed win and ends the year on a slight up, even though it wasn’t an easy watch.  There was a solidity about the team and while there was some loose play, the defence, bolstered by players tracking back, dealt with most of the stuff that Palace threw at us.  With Radu Dragusin and Kota Takai both appearing on the bench, alongside Ben Davies they provided some much needed defensive options among the subs.  Archie Gray retained his place in the side, with suspensions to Xavi and Romero providing starts for Randal Kolo Muani and Kevin Danso.

A packed post-Christmas Spurs crowd braved the chilly weather to make the journey south and despite the much hyped Holmesdale Fanatics, made more noise at times during the match.  The ref set his stall out early with a quick throw taken by Kudus being made to be re-taken a few yards back.  How do other teams get away with it, but we don’t ?  Five minutes in a ball by Mateta to Devenny saw the youngster cut across Danso as he bore down on goal and a free-kick and a booking was given, with Kevin left with nowhere to put his foot as the Palace number 55 crossed him.  It was a weird one, as Palace looked to pass the ball through the wall from the free-kick, but Kudus won it, raced up-field, slipped it wide right to Archie Gray, who put his cross was over everyone in the middle.

To tell the truth, the first 15 minutes were untidy, with neither team putting much a move together.  However, in the 17th minute, a good passing move having started in midfield released Kudus on the right.  His pass forward to Bergvall was returned and he then picked out Porro inside him.  Pedro played a pass across the box for Richarlison to slide the ball past Henderson, but after a VAR review Bergvall was deemed to be offside.

After 20 minutes, Danso’s long ball forward bounced over the defence and Richi got on the end of it, but ran out of room to control the ball.  Palace worked a move from the goal-kick and it ended with Mateta dragging a low shot across goal from just inside the box to the right of the D.

Archie picked up a booking for nothing more than holding Wharton’s shirt and it was another yellow card for not much.  So, when Hughes went in to grab the ball off Kolo Muani on the floor and caught him with a boot in the chest – no booking !  It was an unnecessarily aggressive act that one of our players would have seen yellow for.  The free-kick given against Randal for a foul on Wharton ended up being played left, then slung back across to the far side of the box for Lacroix to head back to the far post, where Mateta headed over.  If it had gone in it probably would have counted as he had two hands on Danso’s shoulders and after last weeks’ game against Liverpool, you know that is not regarded as a foul on a Spurs defender.

When Kolo Muani challenged Lerma for the ball, the Palace midfielder went down holding his head, had a quick look at the linesman and then stayed down, milking it for all he was worth.  Spurs then let Mitchell run forward a long way without closing him down and his shot just after the half hour was blocked by Mateta.  Djed then played a sloppy pass straight to Wharton inside the Spurs box from wide on the left, with the midfielder’s shot being low and weak, allowing Vicario to get down behind it.

I am fed up with crap refereeing.  Gillett obviously has no idea of consistency, with Mo laying the ball off and then being given a dig from behind long after the ball had gone.  If you are going to book someone for a soft shirt pull, how about punishing a cowardly, late kick at someone ?

Hughes had a shooting opportunity on 40 minutes on the edge of the box but ballooned it over, then Kolo Muani took a difficult pass skilfully and raced away from Guehi, looking to pull the ball across goal, but it hit the Palace defender’s hand as he went to ground.  Despite claims from the Spurs players, it was never being to be given as a penalty as it was his supporting arm.  From the corner, Porro played it very deep for Randal to head the ball back and down from beyond the far post for Richarlison to nod the ball on up in the air behind him.  That was where Archie Gray stole in unmarked to apply the finishing touch with his head from a couple of yards out.  It wasn’t quite against the run of play, but Palace had been the more offensive side before the goal, but the joy on the young Spurs midfielder’s face showed no interest in how the balance of the game had gone.

Hughes did what Hughes does and produced a snide trip on Porro as he ran away from him and surprisingly, the referee actually brought out a yellow card for a Palace player with the game almost at half-time.  Thirty seconds into the second half, Lacroix took out Djed in a cynical fashion as he ran past him and again the yellow card made an appearance for a home player.  Amazing !  However, when Devenny pulled Spence back, there was no booking forthcoming.  The dreaded C word raised it’s head again.

Spurs were exhibiting their usual habit of not clearing the ball very convincingly and with Djed limping after tweaking his knee trying to screw a ball back from wide on the left, there was a bit of desperate defending that repelled Palace.  When Pino played a deep cross from the left in the 55th minute, it picked out Clyne at the far post and his header back into the six yard box found Devenny in a lot of space.  Luckily for Spurs, his first touch was dreadful and he ended up sending the bouncing ball over the bar from a couple of yards out.

Clyne went off with Nketiah replacing him to shuffle the Palace team around, with Spurs responding soon after with Odobert and Palhinha coming on for Kolo Muani and Bergvall, who had just taken a knock.  With twenty minutes remaining, Wharton put in a deep cross from the left, Lerma headed back across the six yard box and Lacroix put his header wide from five yards out.  When the next high ball came into the Tottenham box, Vic did very well to take a high ball in the box with Devenny making a back for him.

Playing the ball out from the back, Archie picked up a loose clearance and played a smart pass with the outside of his right foot into the path of Kudus on the right wing and Mo’s first time cross with the outside of his left foot saw Richarlison sliding in at the far post to prod the ball in from two yards out in the 75th minute.  This one was given offside and was the result of a long delay while VAR looked at the semi-automated offside decision that gave Richi being ahead of Kudus’ cross.

Given yet another reprieve, Palace won a corner that Guehi put over the top with his head, with Porro sent flying by a push from Uche, with Lerma picking up a booking in the 83rd minute as Wilson jinked past him and was crudely taken out.  With five minutes left, Frank brought off Archie Gray and Mo Kudus to bring on Radu Dragusin and Brennan Johnson.  With the Romanian’s first touch he almost scored.  A long free-kick deep into the right side of the box was headed into the middle by Richi and Radu got on the end of it, putting his header a foot too high.  In the 88th minute, Richarlison was involved again.  Just inside the Palace half, he flicked the ball on to Odobert, who lifted it over his head for Richi to nod the ball back to him.  Striking the ball early with his right foot from a yard outside the box, he left Henderson standing, but was so unlucky to see the ball come back off the keeper’s right hand post and go back out across the goal.

Palace were reduced to lumping the ball forward to nobody in particular, with Spurs more precise in their passing.  Bentancur picked off a loose pass, played the ball straight into Richarlison 25 yards out and he dragged the ball outside him to the right to put Brennan Johnson in space.  The pass took him a little too wide to try a shot against Henderson, who had cut down the angle at his near post, so he put a ball across goal that was too far ahead of Odobert coming in at the back stick.  Having caught a header on from a long throw into the Spurs box, Vicario threw out quickly to let Brennan run into space on the right and he delivered another low cross that Wharton managed to smuggle back to his goalkeeper, with Richi lurking just behind him.

Desperate Palace players and fans wanted a penalty a minute into seven added minutes, but the ball hit Dragusin high on his sleeve and the arm was not in an unnatural position, so there was little for VAR to consider.  Palhinha had won numerous tackles following his introduction, but when he stopped Wharton’s progress, he took a painful boot on his knee that left him in pain. 

Foul throws seem to be a thing of the past, with Lerma and Danso both trading efforts that looked as though their back feet were off the ground, with other players also taking throw-ins looking as though they weren’t entirely legal.  With thirty seconds of added time left, Wilson took on Esse, played a one-two with Richarlison and then slid a ball across the six-yard box, which was picked up at the far side of the area by Porro, who lined the ball up for Rodrigo Bentancur to shoot on target, with Henderson just about palming the ball away when it was on its way in. 

Micky’s header away from another ball played forward in the air was the last touch before the end and it was significant that van de Ven, Danso and Dragusin, as well as others getting back to defend set-piece plays were so determined in their defending of high balls that it limited the number of chances Palace could create from them.

We sat deep for the last ten minutes, but did well against a sluggish Palace side, who showed little urgency towards the end, but it also allowed us to hit on the break.  That might not work every match, but it was enough to see us over the line today and the play on the break was a bit more incisive than it has been.  There were some very good performances and overall, the team were more resolute than exciting, but it’s small steps.  There’s still a lot of improvement necessary, with players carelessly giving the ball away, especially in dangerous areas, while the fluency in our transitional play is hindered by the lack of understanding between the players and the lack of movement off the ball.  There are only a couple of days to improve that before we start 2026 at Brentford, but it will be something to monitor the progress of during the year ahead.

Happy New Year everyone !

• Archie Gray scored his first goal for Spurs and the first of his career after 112 matches.