Tottenham Hotspur defeated Crystal Palace 1-0 in the Premier League on Sunday evening.
Tottenham thought they had taken the lead after just 17 minutes, but their goal was ruled out due to Lucas Bergvall being in an offside position in the build-up. Despite having the goal chalked off, the visitors would've taken confidence from it due to how easily they carved open the Palace defence with Pedro Porro's cross and how Richarlison had so much space from close range.
Just minutes before half-time, Spurs had the ball in the back of the net yet again, but this time it stood. Like the first time they had the ball in the net, this was another very simple yet effective move. Porro once again whipped a phenomenal cross into the box, and after a few headers from Randal Kolo Muani and Richarlison, the move was kept alive, and Archie Gray ended up guiding a very simple header past Dean Henderson to make it 1-0.
The first half came to a close with Spurs in a 1-0 lead.
In the 75th minute, Spurs thought they had doubled their lead to 2-0. Richarlison, who had the ball in the back of the net in the 17th minute, but had it disallowed due to being offside, had the same thing happen to him yet again. Mohammed Kudus put an outstanding ball into the box with the outside of his boot, and once again, the Brazilian was there to meet it, but after a VAR review, he was judged to be offside, and the match restarted at 1-0.
Richarlison's second disallowed goal was the last action of the match, and Spurs saw it out to take all three points in a 1-0 victory.
Match Highlights
Crystal Palace Player Ratings
GK: Dean Henderson - 5.5/10
Hardly had a thing to do during the match, both in terms of saves and with the ball at his feet. Henderson could've potentially commanded his box better for Gray's goal.
RWB: Nathaniel Clyne - 5/10
Really struggled defensively up against Spence. The experienced defender played with plenty of energy, but wasn't great either defensively or offensively.
CB: Jefferson Lerma - 7/10
Put in a really solid performance despite playing out of position. Lerma was good with the ball at his feet and defended aggressively, which made life for the Spurs forward line difficult.
CB: Maxence Lacroix - 6.5/10
Had several really good chances to score from close range, but didn't convert them. The Frenchman was good in possession of the ball and never really put a foot wrong defensively.
CB: Marc Guehi - 7.5/10
Good with the ball at his feet and never put a foot wrong defensively, but like one of his defensive partners, Lacroix, Guehi also had a really good opportunity to score, but failed to convert it.
LWB: Tyrick Mitchell - 7.5/10
Defensively, very good and managed to deal with Kudus very well. Mitchell was not only defensively solid, but he also managed to get up and down the left flank all throughout the match and cause problems for the Spurs defence offensively.
CM: Adam Wharton - 7/10
As always, Wharton was a calm and composed head in the middle of the park for Palace. The youngster tried to take plenty of risks to play a ball through the Spurs defence, but they stood firm.
CM: Will Hughes - 7/10
Decent in possession of the ball and battled really well in the midfield.
RW: Yeremi Pino - 5.5/10
Quite ineffective in the final third and was easily dealt with by Spurs' back line. Pino got on the ball plenty of times, but was sloppy with it.
ST: Jean-Philippe Mateta - 6/10
Had a very good first half, but was pretty much anonymous in the second half. Mateta's hold-up play in the opening 45 minutes was superb, but in the second half, the Spurs back line completely shut him down.
LW: Justin Devenny - 5.5/10
Played with plenty of energy, both offensively and defensively, but didn't create anything with the ball at his feet despite seeing quite a bit of it.
SUB: Edward Nketiah - 5.5/10
Came on and played with energy, but for the most part was quite ineffective.
SUB: Christantus Uche - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Romain Esse - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
Tottenham Hotspur Player Ratings
GK: Guglielmo Vicario - 6.5/10
Had just two routine saves to make in the first half of the match. Outside of that, the Italian hardly had a thing to do, both in terms of saves and with the ball at his feet.
RB: Pedro Porro - 7/10
Unlucky not to have had an assist to his name after 17 minutes due to Richarlison being in an offside position. Porro was solid defensively and caused the Palace defence some problems with his crosses into the box.
CB: Kevin Danso - 7.5/10
Had quite a shaky first-half performance up against Mateta, but stayed resilient and kept the big forward out of the match in the second half. The Austrian made countless important defensive actions, such as blocks and clearances.
CB: Micky van de Ven - 7.5/10
Like his centre-back partner, Danso, van de Ven also dealt with Mateta well and produced plenty of important defensive actions.
LB: Djed Spence - 7.5/10
Brilliant both defensively and offensively. Spence looked to make things happen every time he got on the ball, which gave Spurs plenty of positivity going forward.
CM: Archie Gray - 8/10 (Man of the Match)
The match winner. Not only did the 19-year-old net the all-important goal, which secured Spurs all three points, but he also put in a solid midfield display, and his energy and defensive abilities were key.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur - 7/10
A solid midfield performance. Bentancur didn't have much to do in possession, but he stayed organised and made Spurs hard to break down.
CM: Lucas Bergvall - 6/10
Substituted off after just over an hour played due to an injury. During his time on the pitch, Bergvall touched the ball just 24 times and never really got involved.
RW: Mohammed Kudus - 6/10
Was unfortunate not to have an assist to his name after putting a wonderful cross into Richarlison, but unfortunately, he was in an offside position. Kudus didn't have as much creative impact on the match as he typically does, and struggled to get the better of Mitchell.
ST: Richarlison - 8/10
A real nuisance for the Palace defence to deal with. The Brazilian provided the assist for Gray's goal and was a constant handful to deal with due to his pressing and movement.
LW: Randal Kolo Muani - 5/10
Quite ineffective on the left wing. Kolo Muani didn't really get involved in the match and never even had an attempt at goal.
SUB: Joao Palhinha - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Wilson Odobert - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Radu Dragusin - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Brennan Johnson - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.