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Tottenham’s precarious Premier League plight worsened significantly after a calamitous period culminated in a 3-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace.
The loss leaves the north London club staring down the barrel of relegation, having started the night just a single point above the bottom three following West Ham’s midweek victory over Fulham.
The match began with an early scare for Spurs when Ismaila Sarr had a goal disallowed for offside, but hope briefly flickered five minutes later as Dominic Solanke netted a 34th-minute opener.
However, any momentum was swiftly extinguished by a moment of inexplicable folly from stand-in captain Micky Van de Ven, whose blatant pull-back on Sarr inside the area earned him a straight red card.
Sarr calmly converted the resulting spot-kick, and the Eagles capitalised further during a chaotic end to the first half. Jorgen Strand Larsen added a second for Palace with a low effort, before Sarr grabbed his brace, leaving the home side shell-shocked and facing an uphill battle with ten men.
Manager Igor Tudor, who had controversially dropped big-money signings Conor Gallagher and Xavi Simons for the visit of Palace, now faces intense scrutiny.
His tactical gamble failed to pay off, with Guglielmo Vicario forced into an early save from Adam Wharton within the first minute.
Debutant Souza was booked after just seven minutes for a poor tackle that saw Daniel Munoz limp off, setting a tense tone.
Despite a snapshot from Mathys Tel in the 15th minute, Tottenham struggled to gain a foothold.
Palace thought they had scored just before the hour mark when Sarr raced onto Evann Guessand’s through ball, but a lengthy VAR check ruled it offside, prompting loud cheers from the home crowd.
These cheers soon turned to despair as Solanke’s opener, set up by Gray after a deflected Tel strike, was quickly overshadowed.
Four minutes after taking the lead, Van de Ven’s red card and Sarr’s subsequent penalty completely shifted the dynamic.
Tudor introduced Gallagher and Yves Bissouma, but the changes couldn’t stem the tide. Wharton was instrumental in Palace’s late first-half surge, threading a pass to Strand Larsen, who fired past Vicario, and then delivering a clipped ball that Sarr poked in, exposing a static Tottenham defence and leaving Pedro Porro looking foolish.
Loud boos greeted the half-time whistle, but the ten men of Spurs showed some resilience in the second half.
Kevin Danso was denied by Dean Henderson, and Gray had an effort blocked.
Substitutions including Brennan Johnson, Richarlison and Xavi failed to alter the scoreline, as Tottenham set an unwanted club record of 11 Premier League matches without a win, deepening the crisis for Tudor and the club.
PA contributed to this report
