Victory for 18th-placed West Ham on Wednesday night made Spurs’ dire situation appear even worse, and perhaps for the first time raised the talking point that a first relegation since 1977 could be a realistic possibility.
They understandably looked nervous early on, and had Guglielmo Vicario to thank for keeping out Adam Wharton’s volley inside the first minute.
There were fleeting moments of promise from the hosts, but they were again fortunate not to go behind when Ismaïla Sarr’s strike was disallowed due to his forehead being offside in the build-up.
Spurs responded emphatically to that reprieve, as Archie Gray wriggled away from a couple of challenges and made it to the byline, where he pulled it back for Dominic Solanke to divert in for the opener.
But Palace had their revenge, and it came as a double blow for Spurs, with Micky Van de Ven sent off for pulling down Sarr at the last moment, and the Senegal international coolly rolling the ball into the left side of the net from the resulting spot-kick.
Looking for consecutive league away wins at Spurs for the first time ever, the visitors piled on the pressure against their 10-man opponents and were handsomely rewarded during a ruthless end to the half.
Wharton set up both of their goals, with a cheeky reverse pass allowing Jorgen Strand Larsen to slot through the goalkeeper’s legs from an angle, before his sweeping ball was perfect for Sarr to run onto and touch beyond the outrushing Vicario.
Those Spurs fans who remained for the second half saw an improvement in their side, though the personnel disadvantage made things difficult.
Their best chance came when Dean Henderson toed away an effort from Solanke, but they never really looked like scoring one, let alone three, to put an end to their dismal run.
A disastrous three-defeat start to Igor Tudor’s reign means his side have still failed to win a single PL match in 2026, and it will certainly be interesting to see how they approach an upcoming UEFA Champions League tie with Atletico Madrid with their top-flight future on the line.
For all of their opponents’ issues, Palace were superb, and are unlikely to be involved in the action at either end of the table in the final months of Oliver Glasner’s tenure.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace)
Key stats
- Only Wolves (20) have lost more home Premier League games than Tottenham (19) since the start of last season, while Spurs have the fewest home points (31) of any ever-present side since the start of 2024/25.
- Tottenham Hotspur have lost their last five games in the Premier League; their last longer losing streak was from October 2004 to November 2004, a run of six games.
- Tottenham Hotspur have a record of W0, D3, L10 when trailing at half-time in the Premier League this season.
