Four takeaways from Crystal Palace’s 0-3 loss to Tottenham Hotspur – Conte’s clinical Spurs breeze past a disorganised Palace 

A depleted Crystal Palace squad were torn apart by five minutes of genius and intense pressure from Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur.

The Eagles were also without their manager Patrick Vieira, who had also tested positive for Covid-19 prior to kick off.

Harry Kane opened the scoring for the home side after Lucas Moura jinked his way through Palace’s defence with ease, and the lead was doubled two minutes after when Moura planted a header past Jack Butland.

Wilfried Zaha was sent off three minutes later to add salt to Palace’s wounds and kill off any chance of a fightback.

Here are Edmund Brack’s four takeaways from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium:

PALACE RIPPED TO SHREDS IN 10 MINUTES 

Up until the 32nd minute at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Palace seemed to be coping well with Antonio Conte’s side and putting the chaotic past 48 hours behind them.

However, following a defence-splitting pass from Emerson Royal to set up Lucas Moura, who in turn found Harry Kane for the opener, Palace’s afternoon was over before it had even begun.

It was a clinical two minute spell from the north Londoners, who exposed Palace’s frailties and quickly doubled their lead in the 34th minute when Moura won the ball back in the middle of the pitch and finished the move off with a smart header past Jack Butland.

Palace’s hopes of a comeback were over when John Moss sent off Wilfried Zaha for a second bookable offence. While Zaha’s first yellow card was up for debate, Moss had no choice but to send the talisman off when he swung his elbow in the direction of Emerson Royal.

It was Zaha’s fifth red card since his debut in 2010.

SPURS SHOULD HAVE SCORED MORE AS MANAGERLESS PALACE LOST STRUCTURE

Palace were unable to string together a real passage of attacking play on Sunday as they were well beaten by an organised and determined Tottenham.

The Eagles failed to register a shot on target during the 90 minutes, with Odsonne Edouard and Jordan Ayew having the arduous task of breaking down a rigid Spurs side that defended in numbers.

Palace’s defence also capitulated early on and immediately lost its structure once Kane buried the first goal past Butland.

The second half saw Spurs have nine shots at Palace’s goal, and the Eagles were lucky to only concede three in the 90 minutes.

UNABLE TO CHANGE GAME PLAN DUE TO REDUCED BENCH AND RED CARD

Osain Roberts was forced to name only 18 players in his matchday squad, due to a mixture of Covid-19 cases and injuries. The likes of Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise and Christian Benteke were all absent from the bench, Palace were unable to conjure up a plan of attack to break down Spurs.

The Welsh assistant had the option of bringing on Jean-Philippe Mateta, Jeffrey Schlupp and Jairo Riedewald, but they weren’t names that sparked inspiration.

Once Zaha was sent off, Palace’s efforts were little more than in vain. Their best chance of the second half came from a blocked Jordan Ayew shot on the edge of the box.

With Zaha now suspended for the game against Norwich, Palace’s options going forward are sparse. It could be time to re-introduce 19-year-old Jesurun Rak-Sakyi from the academy to add some flair to the bench.

TYRICK MITCHELL – THE BRIGHT SPARK IN AN UNCOMPETITIVE OUTING

The 22-year-old continues to show why England and Gareth Southgate are keeping a watchful eye on his progression.

He dealt with the pace of  Moura and, at times, was the only defender in his correct position.

Mitchell was easily Palace’s best player on Sunday.

He won the most tackles out of any Palace defender (four), completed the most passes and was ranked only behind Joel Ward in touches of the football.

Another positive on a dismal afternoon for the Eagles was seeing Nathan Ferguson make his Crystal Palace debut after signing for the club in July 2020.