Tottenham Extend Lead at Premier League Summit with 2-1 Victory over Crystal Palace: Player Ratings

Tottenham Hotspur has achieved a five-points lead at the top of the top-flight table, a first since the 1960/61 season. This follows their 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on Friday night.

Joel Ward, Palace's captain, inadvertently scored a goal for Tottenham when he was forced by James Maddison to kick the ball past his own goalkeeper. Tottenham's lead was further cemented ten minutes later by Son Heung-min as Crystal Palace struggled to regain composure.

Jordan Ayew scored a goal in final minutes of the game in a last-ditch effort to turn the tide for Crystal Palace. However, this ended in vain, further raising doubts about the win that many perceived as complicated for Tottenham.

Roy Hodgson, reeling from a 4-0 loss to Newcastle United last weekend, revealed that the team underwent thorough introspection. This was manifested in Palace's strong defense against Tottenham.

While Tottenham shuffled their line-up, Crystal Palace stuck to a cohesive 4-4-2 formation and successfully cornered Tottenham to the sidelines.

Despite not having much possession, Palace was able to mount an offensive early in the game and frequently challenged Guglielmo Vicario's goal. Micky van de Ven's blistering speed effectively thwarted any counterattacks from Tottenham, but Tottenham proved threatening while shifting gears.

For the first time in Ange Postecoglou's tenure as Tottenham's manager, his team went through the first half without landing a single shot on target, yet rose to a 1-0 lead against an admittedly strong defense.

Pedro Porro leveraged the space Crystal Palace left open on the sides and partnered with Pape Matar Sarr to score a goal. Maddison took advantage of Sarr's assist – a wide, misguided shot that found its way to the goal via Ward's unlucky shin.

Crystal Palace found themselves unsettled after Tottenham's initial goal, further exacerbated by the impatient jeers from their crowd.

Adding insult to injury, Son scored another goal for Tottenham in the 66th minute, just two minutes after Brennan Johnson entered the game. Johnson assisted Maddison and Son, who helped Tottenham secure a 2-0 lead.

Ayew's formidable effort in the final minutes of the game – albeit losing some intensity while officials reviewed whether the ball touched his fingertips – threatened to reverse Tottenham's fortunes. However, Porro, who Ayew earlier outplayed, managed to protect Tottenham's lead by throwing himself before Matheus Franca to block Ayew's potential second goal.

Roy Hodgson celebrated his 500th game in charge of an English club.