The Eagles picked up another memorable victory under the lights of Selhurst Park last night as newly appointed manager Alan Pardew masterminded a superb comeback from 1-0 down against an in-form Tottenham.
Nights at Selhurst Park can be special, really special and this one was no different as Dwight Gayle and Jason Puncheon both got onto the scoresheet against Spurs who had scored the opening goal of the game through their top goalscorer Harry Kane, a constant threat to the Palace defence throughout the game but his skillful runs weren’t enough to see off the hosts ho looked more of an often threat.
In the build up to the game, Palace fans were confident they could get at least a point from Spurs with most admitting it would be tough due to their recent form in the Premier League as before the game they had held a record of picking up 13 points from a possible 15 in their last five games, making it seem like a difficult task on paper for a Crystal Palace side that were fighting to get out of the relegation zone after poor performances from the South London side led to the sacking of Neil Warnock.
Now under the management of Alan Pardew, fans had a reason to believe with an experienced Premier League manager at the helm of the club who left top half side Newcastle to join a side he had fond memories of from his playing days at the club; the only question being asked was can the Wimbeldon born manager bring back success to the club from his playing days at Selhurst Park.
Tottenham looked the more threatening side in the opening exchanges of the game with the main bulk of the possession being held by the visitors and with that came their fair share of chances with one of the clear cut chances of the half going to Spurs’ Christian Eriksen who lacked composure when he struck a half-volley wide of the post from just six yards out of the Palace goal.
Palace began to work their way back into the game after Spurs’ passing games in the first quarter of the game, using both the wings and the middle of the park to carve their way further into Tottenham’s half, the Eagles’ first real chances came from the crosses with McArthur heading the ball over the bar and shortly after Glenn Murray who has returned from his loan spell at Reading headed the ball in the same direction.
Murray’s contributions for the first half didn’t end there either as further into the half, the 31-year-old had a fantastic chance as after Martin Kelly worked the ball through to the striker’s foot after a slick pass past a number of defenders before he took a pop at goal after Spurs’ defender ran out towards the Palace man, getting in the way of the forthcoming shot and knocking it out for a corner.
Guédioura who was out on loan at Championship side Watford replaced Barry Bannan at half-time which was a surprise to many as the winger had a good game after impressing Pardew in the FA Cup 3rd round win over Dover to work his way into his first Premier League starting line-up.
The Algerian midfielder proved he was the substitute worth bringing on though with his presence helping the side to a better start to the half compared to the visitors but that was short lived as Chadili who was surrounded by a number of Palace defenders managed to feed a ball through to Harry Kane who left the net bulging after putting the ball into the back of the net, past Speroni.
Pardew’s side looked up for it from that point onwards as with Spurs sitting further back than earlier points in the game, allowing Palace’s midfielders to get further up the pitch and creating more chances for the attackers with the ball finding the wingers on either side of the pitch attack after attack.
Palace’s breakthrough was to follow the pressure as Joe Ledley was brought down in the area by Stambouli’s trailing foot after reaching the ball after the Palace midfielder giving referee Anthony Taylor no choice but to give the penalty; it was Dwight Gayle to step up to the spot to the anticipation of the Selhurst Park crowd and with everyone watching the striker put the penalty past Lloris with precision and power into the bottom corner to the delight of Alan Pardew.
It was only after that, that Tottenham began to mount up the pressure again with a number of attacks being engineered on the right hand side but with the Selhurst faithful behind the Palace players and Alan Pardew jumping up and down on the touchline whilst getting the fans behind the team, the hosts weren’t going to be frightened by the side chasing European football for another season.
Another useful substitute was made by the Eagles with Wilfried Zaha replacing Murray to add more pace to the attacks of Crystal Palace and create more goal scoring opportunities for his side. Tactical changes were also made with the change as Gayle who had already scored from the spot moved more into a central attacking position whilst Zaha went towards the left hand side of attack.
His arrival caused instant distress for the Tottenham defenders, in particular Kyle Walker who was given the task of marking the skillful and unpredictable winger who is currently on loan from Manchester United; it was only a matter of time that he got past the Spurs defence as just after the 80th minute, the winger got past a number of defenders who were sat outside of the box before threading a ball through to Puncheon who took a first time shot towards goal which ended up in the back of the net, beating Lloris all ends up.
Six minutes of stoppage time only delayed the agony for the Spurs fans heading back to North London as the only momentous chance was a shot from Zaha which stung the hands of the keeper; three points for Palace and another fightback from an Alan Pardew side this season in the Premier League, making it 15 points won from a losing position for the former Newcastle manager.
After the game, we asked fans to either Tweet us or leave a comment on a Facebook post with their 140 character (okay, maybe less) review of the game. Here is one we picked out:
@EaglesElement pep an influence, Zaha is back? Power and pace, good all around, a finisher help, Spurs lucky to score, we look better
— The Mighty Palace (@TheMightyPalace) January 11, 2015
