Crystal Palace vs Tottenham Hotspur. Premier League.
Selhurst Park.
Report and free match highlights as Crystal Palace end their winless start to the Premier League season at the ninth attempt to ease the pressure on Oliver Glasner, with Jean-Philippe Mateta's first-half strike the difference; Spurs suffer third away league defeat of the season
Sunday 27 October 2024 19:15, UK
Crystal Palace claimed their first win of the Premier League season as Jean-Philippe Mateta's first-half strike sealed a 1-0 victory over Tottenham at Selhurst Park.
Palace had lost to Spurs in their last five league meetings, but Mateta, on his return to the starting line-up, put an end to that run and kick-started his team's campaign to ease the pressure on head coach Oliver Glasner.
Spurs came undone for the goal after being caught out when playing out from the back. Micky van de Ven was dispossessed deep in his own half by Daniel Munoz, whose cross was beautifully flicked on by Eberechi Eze for Mateta's 31st-minute opener.
Ange Postecoglou's side produced an uncharacteristic display in south London, struggling to cope with the intensity of Palace's work out of possession, and rarely looked like scoring after going a goal down. The hosts, in fact, always felt more likely.
Spurs came closest to scoring soon after conceding, Brennan Johnson inadvertently hitting a post after Van de Ven hammered the ball off his leg at a corner, while Dean Henderson produced a fine save to deny James Maddison in first-half stoppage time.
When you would have expected Spurs to be pushing for an equaliser, it was Palace in the ascendancy. Guglielmo Vicario, who made five saves, kept out efforts from Eze, Ismaila Sarr and Adam Wharton in the latter stages to avoid the hosts going two goals up.
Palace lift themselves out of the relegation zone after ending their eight-game winless run with a dogged performance, creating a two-point cushion between themselves and the bottom three.
Spurs, meanwhile, remain in eighth, four points adrift of fifth-placed Chelsea, after suffering their third away league defeat of the season. They have won just three league games on the road in 2024.
Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner:
"I always felt quite comfortable with my job, always very close to my sporting director and to my chairman, so I wasn't really concerned about my job. I think all our performances were okay, but we missed a little bit of what we showed today.
"We showed this courage, we showed the intensity, we showed the bravery, how we pressed them, the intensity, and maybe this was what we were a little bit missing.
"But today, all the credit to the players, how they dealt with the situation, because everybody was saying 'no win, no win', and they stayed cool, they always had a good mood, very good training week, and that's why we all got the reward today."
Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou:
"It was just a game that turned into a bit of a battle. A lot of stop-starting and standing around and we didn't deal with that really well at all.
"We didn't get to grips with the nature of what was transpiring out there. They dealt with it better than we did.
"It was a different game [to the Brighton defeat].It was just a game where we needed to stay composed and not fall into the trap of trying to play the game. Ultimately, Palace wanted to play.
"It turned into a game of battle after battle and duels and stops, starts, waiting around. We need to be a lot more clear about how we deal with that rather than falling into the trap of trying to do what we did today.
"I just felt when we had control of things, we could have done it better. We ended up doing some silly things, giving away silly fouls and losing our composure, which just adds to that sort of game. And you can't just get any traction.
"I just think we directed our frustration in the wrong way, rather than dealing with it the way we should have."
Crystal Palace's fine form under Glasner last season coincided with Mateta finding the best scoring form of his career. His 13 goals in 11 games put him in the same bracket as Erling Haaland, the Premier League's top scorer two seasons running.
The Palace boss' tinkering this season has seen Mateta share the striking position with Eddie Nketiah, signed from Arsenal for £30m on Deadline Day, and, for the last two games, settle for a place on the bench.
But, restored as the lone striker against Spurs, Mateta took full advantage and made a strong case to be the first-choice striker moving forward, scoring his fifth goal of the season for Palace in just nine starts across all competitions.
Despite Palace's miserable start to the season, Mateta still ranks among the Premier League's most prolific scorers in 2024, with his 17 goals this calendar year bettered only by Haaland (24) and Cole Palmer (21).
If Palace are to bring themselves out of the relegation battle, Mateta will need to be at the heart of the team. What that means for Nketiah is unclear, but he can have no complaints about being benched after an underwhelming start at his new club.
Tottenham just don't look like the same side when they aren't playing at home. At Crystal Palace, they never really looked like winning, even though they had a whole half to mount a comeback.
Ange Postecoglou said his side lost composure at Selhurst Park and fell into playing Palace at their game, rather than imposing their own style. But it seems to be a trend.
Spurs have won one of their five away games in the Premier League season - that was when Manchester United failed to turn up at Old Trafford.
Spurs' only other point on the road came in a draw against newly promoted Leicester in their first game of the season, when they were expected to blow their opposition away.
The other three games - against Newcastle, Brighton and now Crystal Palace - have ended in defeat. These problems go back further than just this season.
Spurs have managed just three away wins in the Premier League in 2024 - against Sheffield United, Aston Villa and Manchester United.
It seems Spurs struggle to stick to their philosophy when the going gets tough, and they don't have their fans to lean on.
For a club with ambitions of qualifying for the Champions League, this worrying habit needs to be addressed, otherwise Spurs will have to cope without it for another year.
This 1-0 win was only Crystal Palace's second win across their last 19 Premier League games against Tottenham (D2 L15), though both victories in that time have come at Selhurst Park whilst keeping a clean sheet.
Tottenham have failed to win any of their four away London derby matches in the Premier League in 2024 (D1 L3), failing to score in three of those matches, whilst netting just one goal in total.
