Talking points from Crystal Palace’s 2-0 win at Spurs – Eze oozes class as Eagles end hoodoo

Crystal Palace were 2-0 winners at Tottenham on Sunday with Eberechi Eze scoring both of their goals.

Here are Adam Sells’ talking points from the Premier League fixture in north London.

THE HOODOO IS FINALLY OVER

They’ve done it! At the 12th attempt – since promotion in 2013 – Palace have finally won an away fixture against Tottenham Hotspur.

The Eagles had not recorded an away win in this fixture for 28 years.

Neil Shipperley was the solitary goalscorer that night, back in 1997, and the visitors had not taken three points back south of the river since then.

Prior to kick off, in the past 11 Premier League visits, Palace had a 0-0 draw and 10 defeats, scoring only two goals in the process.

The only win in that time came in the FA Cup fifth round in 2016, with a very rare Martin Kelly goal.

A league double over Tottenham is not something that fans have been able to brag about for a very long time.

THE PERFECT TONIC

Oliver Glasner’s men will go into Saturday’s FA Cup final with a very positive performance and a clean sheet. In truth Palace won at a canter. The xG (expected goals) of 0.68 versus 3.39 showed almost a five-goal difference and a five-goal victory wouldn’t have flattered Palace.

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou rang the changes following his team’s qualification for the Europa League final in 10 days’ time, while his opposite number Oliver Glasner preferred to go into the game with a full-strength team – and it showed.

Palace had 23 shots on the home goal and had it not been for some profligate finishing would have ended with a scoreline that reflected their dominance.

In fact, it could have been five before the break. Two goals were ruled out on the basis of very marginal decisions plus Jean-Philippe Mateta, Ismaila Sarr and the excellent Daniel Munoz all passed up some highly presentable chances.

The Colombian wing-back was in rampant form and given the freedom of N17 during the opening 45  minutes. Tottenham’s high line and lack of defensive discipline saw him run amok and though Eberechi Eze eventually made one of Munoz’s many forays tell on the stroke of half-time, the visitors could and should have been way out of sight.

Eze was at it again just after the restart to make it two, and there were further chances for Mateta and his replacement Eddie Nketiah to make the scoreline more emphatic.

EZE DOES IT

Eberechi Eze continued his rich vein of form as Palace cruised to victory.

The mesmeric England international strutted his stuff in north London and added two more goals to his season’s total.

The former Queens Park Rangers man scored for the fourth game in a row in all competitions and three consecutive Premier League matches.

Eze has been criticised in part this season, but his stats underline his quality and importance to this Palace team.

In 3,142 minutes, across four competitions this term, Eze has had 23 goal involvements. That’s a goal or assist every 136 minutes. Twelve goals and 11 assists with three games left to play make excellent reading.

There have been some media reports in recent weeks that Eze’s time in SE25 may be coming to an end and his boss Glasner did little to dispel the rumours when asked during last week’s press conference.

Those reports had suggested that Palace may be willing to sell their precocious talent for less than the buy-out clause inserted within his contract, which surely cannot be the case.

Eze forms part of a really well-balanced front line with Mateta’s physicality and Sarr’s pace. Should another club meet the said clause and there is nothing can be done that’s one thing, but anything else would surely make no sense.

AN EXCITING FORTNIGHT AHEAD…

With the FA Cup ahead of them, Palace still have an outside chance of a top-half finish as they managed last season.

They have equalled the same number of points as last time out, which was a club record in the Premier League.

They are on 49 points with two more games to add to that joint record points haul – Wolverhampton Wanderers at home and a trip to Anfield to face the champions Liverpool.

Given the later transfer business in August and it taking eight games for them to record their first win, ironically versus Tottenham at the end of October, European football would surely have been a distinct possibility via a Premier League placing.

An increased points total will represent progress if the final league position doesn’t, especially if Europa League football is achieved by winning at Wembley this weekend.

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD