January 23 2016

Wilfried Zaha

Crystal Palace went down to a 3-1 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur.

The Eagles have now gone six league games without a win and this bad run of form has seen them slip to 11th in the table.

But at least they got a first goal in 482 minutes – though it was an own goal from Tottenham's Jan Vertonghen in the 30th minute when Wilfried Zaha's low cross was diverted past Hugo Lloris via Vertonghen's boot.

Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey kept out Danny Rose's volley and Alan Pardew's side went in at the break with the slender lead.

Harry Kane gave Tottenham a deserved equaliser with a close-range header in the 63rd minute from Nacer Chadli's cross from the left.

Palace were desperately unlucky not to grab another as Scott Dann nodded against the crossbar and substitute Mile Jedinak hitting the rebound onto the woodwork also in the 80th minute.

Spurs made it 2-1 on 84 minutes with a contender for goal of the season from Dele Alli, who flicked the ball over Jedinak 25 yards from goal, and volleyed into the bottom left corner.

Alli struck the bar and Chadli added gloss to the scoreline for 3-1 with a cool finish in the third minute of stoppage time.

Palace: Hennessey, Delaney, Souare, Dann, Ward, McArthur (Jedinak 79), Cabaye (Campbell 85), Zaha, Puncheon, Ledley, Wickham.

Not used: Chamakh, Mutch, Kelly, Lee, Speroni.

Tottenham: Lloris, Trippier, Rose, Vertonghen (Wimme, 75), Alderweireld, Eriksen (Bentaleb 88), Son, Dier (Chadli 56), Alli, Dembele, Kane.

Not used: Carroll, Vorm, Lamela, Davies.

Forgetting everything else, our set-up for Spurs' equaliser is woeful. That simply isn't acceptable defending. https://t.co/oU0qnst5KX

— HLTCO (@HLTCO) January 23, 2016

Alan Pardew: "We wouldn't have lost the game if it hadn't been for their goalkeeper. At 1-1 he made two great saves and it was just not our day.

"Wilfried Zaha was a problem for them and on another day we could've won this game. We haven't done much wrong, but they have great individual talent and they won it with a couple of special moments.

"It was horrible to watch [Ali's goal], and I don't often say that about a beautiful goal. As soon as he flicked the ball over his head I feared the worst. It was a great moment for him and he is a great talent."

Mauricio Pochettino: "After the first half I was a bit disappointed but we sorted out some problems and with the maturity we showed in the second half we fully deserved the win.

"After 95 minutes the result was fair. It was a fantastic performance. We have the youngest squad in the Premier League, but the way the players showed their maturity it looked like the oldest.

"Dele's goal was a fantastic goal and it showed his quality. It is a goal that will be seen around the world on television - it was unbelievable. We knew he was a player of unbelievable potential, but today he showed unbelievable maturity and quality."

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