Palace Pumped By Spurs In Second Half Blitz

This ended up a game of two halves with Palace guilty of not taking chances in the first while the visitors showed their class in the second helped by some poor defending.

TIME/ DATE/ VENUE

• 8pm
• 4^th January 2023
• Selhurst Park, Holmesdale Road, London SE25 6PU

RESULT

Crystal Palace 0-4 Tottenham Hotspur

PLAYER RATINGS

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES – 4 Luka MILIVOJEVIC, 5 James TOMKINS, 21 Sam JOHNSTONE, 23 Malcolm EBIOWEI, 26 Chris RICHARDS, 44 Jairo RIEDEWALD

OPPOSITION LINE-UP

UNSED SUBSTITUTES – 6 Davinson SANCHEZ, 20 Fraser FORSTER, 24 Djed SPENCE, 25 Japhet TANGANGA

TEB VERDICT

The Eagles suffered back to back home defeats, shipping a total of seven goals and scoring none. However, the signs were promising in the first half as Palace had the better chances and went in at break unlucky not to have been in front. There was never another chance as the visitors showed their class by going two goals up quickly and Palace never recovered. In fact, they capitulated which only gave Spurs more encouragement in a very disappointing second forty five minutes.

While Patrick Vieira will be keen on making changes to this squad, he must refrain from persisting with Jeffrey Schlupp in midfield. On a separate note, it is clear Palace struggle without progressive full backs. Two centre back that are comfortable on the ball are restricted when it comes to the full backs, in fact the whole team are inhibited, but such talent costs considerable money. The front line is also a struggle. For all the skill and excitement that Eze, Zaha and Olise provide together, there is not a player clinical enough to finish off the chances. But again, such players cost money.

You do have to wonder if Vieira rates the likes of Will Hughes, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Odsonne Edouard who are constantly on the bench and have rarely got much game time. Perhaps they will get an opportunity to stake a claim in the FA Cup at the weekend, but at the moment it seems clear they are not relied upon for some reason.

BOB’S POINT OF VIEW

Bob White was a coach at Palace under the tenure of Steve Coppell and Alan Smith and will be sharing his point of view each week in our review article.

“The first 25 minutes was played out in a cagey fashion until slowly we applied consistent pressure on the Spurs midfield and defence turning good possession into creating some dangerous moments in the opposition penalty box. Unfortunately, failure to convert any opportunities was to cost us dearly in the second half.

The clinical cutting edge provided by Kane twice early in the second half effectively put the result to bed and completely shifted the whole momentum of the game. Spurs confidence grew as rapidly as ours evaporated. Having a top class striker in the ranks confirmed the difference between a mid-table team and Champions League position contenders. Ultimately, the game rapidly run away from us as we lost all defensive shape and any ability to retain possession. A further two goals rubbed salt into the size of the defeat and added to a deteriorating goal difference.

The game again underlined the lack of consistency in our results and performances. Vieira is acutely aware of this challenge but only highlighted how much we require two or three reinforcements in this transfer window. Realistically, a mid-table position accurately reflects where we are as a team and arguably a club per se. As Vieira stated previously, any defeat doesn’t make us the worst team whilst conversely a win not the best team in the league. It will be interesting to see how strong the starting line up he selects against the Saints on Saturday. Let’s hope he views the home tie as a good opportunity to progress in the cup. For the second consecutive home game, not sure any Palace player deserved the plaudits of a man of the match award.”

POST GAME QUOTES

PATRICK VIEIRA

“A tough night – conceding four goals is not something pleasant but I don’t feel it reflects the quality of the game we played today. When they scored their first goal it became difficult for us. We had situations. I think we were not clinical enough, we didn’t take our chances. Hugo Lloris made a couple of important saves.

“We were brave, we showed quality but at the same time the fact we conceded four goals shows there are still a lot of things we need to improve.

“We have young players in our team. Their experience allowed them to be strong and score their goals. You have to give credit to Tottenham because they looked really solid, they waited for their moment to take their chances. I believe the 4-0 is hard for us, is hard for my players and hard for the club.”

ANTONIO CONTE

“It was a good reaction. It is not easy to win against Palace away. We are talking about a really good team, well organised. In the second half we exploited chances to score and we finished with a good final result.

“The message was to continue to play because we started the game very well. In the second part of the first half we lost a bit of the possession. I said it was really important to continue to move the ball and find the space to attack. We played a good game, well organised without the ball also.

“I am happy because our strikers scored, Harry scored twice and Son finally scored and it was really important for him because he is a player who needs to score to feel confidence in himself.

“We didn’t concede a goal and that is another positive situation. We need to continue to work. In this period we are playing with many young players. During the World Cup I had the opportunity to work with these young players. It was important.”

MATCH STATISTICS

POSITION IN THE TABLE (at the final whistle)

UPCOMING FIXTURES

07/01/23 Southampton (h) – FA Cup (12.30pm)

15/01/23 Chelsea (a) – Premier League (2pm)

21/01/23 Newcastle United (h) – Premier League (5.30pm)