Frustration for Eagles as dominance fails to translate into goals and efficient Spurs make off with the spoils

Eyes down for another capital clash : Picture by @YTJourno

Premier League

Crystal Palace (0) 0

Tottenham Hotspur (1) 1 Gray 42

Archie Gray claimed his first senior goal after 112 appearances as Spurs made light of being second best for most of the game to plunder a vital away win.

They had to soak up up a ton of pressure from the Eagles whose drip-drip feed of crosses could not quite carve out the opening they desperately needed. In the end the on-target count was edged by Spurs and in sharp contrast to overall efforts on goal which were heavily weighted in the home side's favour.

Richarlison had two 'goals' ruled out for offside - the second in a breakaway with 15 minutes to go which felt like another sucker-punch for the dominant hosts until VAR intervened. But Oliver Glasner's men could not profit from the let-off and fell to a third home defeat of the season.

They have still only won twice on home soil and scored only nine times in nine league fixtures at Selhurst. As Palace ran out of steam and ideas, the reality of a third successive defeat this week began to bite.

In the end, Wilson Odobert came closest to adding a goal for Spurs when he came off the bench to crash a shot against a post, while Rodrigo Bentancur forced Dean Henderson into a fine save.

For all their own home struggles, Spurs' away record is sound, with five wins and two defeats. They move to just a point behind the Eagles, with both clubs locked in mid-table.

There was early controversy which hinted at frustrations to come for the Eagles when Jean Philippe Mateta's though ball invited Justin Devenny to bear down on goal and only a trip from Kevin Danso denied him the chance to score. Ref Jarred Gillet opted for a yellow rather than a red card.

Spurs thought they had grabbed the lead when Lucas Bergvall's cut back was played in first time behind the Palace defence by Pedro Porro for Richarlison to put away but VAR spotted Bergvall was offside in the build up.

Palace were the brighter of the two teams, with Mateta sending a low shot just wide from the edge of the area and the Frenchman nodded just over after Maxence Lacroix had headed an Adam Wharton cross back towards the striker.

Another fine breakaway led to Yermey Pino feeding Will Hughes for a curling effort that just cleared the crossbar.

But then came Gray's moment, as he popped up a yard from the line to nod in after Richarlison had managed to head into the danger zone following a Pedro Porro corner.

The goal was very much against the run of play but very welcome for Thomas Frank, who knows the pressure has been building on him and his side.

The Eagles had played with good energy considering the midweek exertions against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup and they continued to offer the Holmesdale faithful hope before a late fade out.

A Pino cross to the back post was headed down by Nathaniel Clyne at the far post but Devenny fired over after having to swivel and shoot off balance. Lacroix sent a glancing header when he should have scored, having been set up perfectly by Jefferson Lerma's header across the face of the goal.

The Eagles caught a break when a lightning raid ended with Spurs having a strike ruled out - Richarlison tapping in at the far post from Mo Kudus cross in from the right. But they seldom looked like getting back on level terms as Danso - in for the suspended Cristian Romero - created a formidable barrier alongside Micky van de Ven.

Eagles: (3-4-2-1) Henderson - Lerma. Lacroix, Guehi - Clyne (Nketiah 58), Hughes, Wharton, Mitchell - Pino (Uche 77), Devenny (Esse 85) - Mateta

Spurs: (4-2-3-1) Vicario - Porro, Danso, van de Ven, Spence - Bentancur, Gray (Dragusin 85) - Kudus (Johnson 85), Bergvall (Palhinha 62), Kolo Muani (Odobert 63) - Richarlison

Attendance: 25,186