Second half goals from Christian Eriksen and Jermaine Defoe consigned Crystal Palace to a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur this afternoon.

 

Jason Puncheon missed an eighth minute penalty for the Eagles, who paid the price five minutes after the break when Erksen fired Spurs ahead before substitute Defoe doubled the advantage on 72 minutes.

Cameron Jerome saw an early shot from outside of the box go just off target, while at the other end Julian Speroni had to get down low to gather Nabil Bentaleb's long range drive at the second attempt.

The Eagles were presented with the perfect opportunity to get their noses in front on eight minutes when Marouane Chamakh was tripped in the box by Mousa Dembele.

However, Puncheon’s spot-kick was blazed so wildly over the bar it has to go down as one of the worst penalties ever taken in Premier League history.

Despite this, the Eagles continued to ask most of the questions as a lacklustre home side were caught napping time and again as the Eagles countered well.

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Jonathan Parr won a corner after his shot was tipped behind by Hugo Llorios and Jerome forced a decent stop from the Spurs keeper with a well-struck 20 yard shot.

Emmanuel Adeboayor came within inches of connecting with Aaron Lennon’s inviting delivery but back came Palace immediately, Punchon’s effort deflected behind and then Chamakh seeing his shot blocked by team-mate Yannick Bolasie from the resulting corner.

Only the woodwork denied Bentaleb what would have been a glorious opener when his audacious strike hit the woodwork with Speroni beaten.

Eriksen almost gave Tottenham a dream start to the second half, beating a couple of palace players in the area while running across goal but his eventually shot was deflected behind off Damien Delaney.

But Eriksen wasn’t to be denied five minutes after the break, meeting Adebayor’s flick on before smashing his shot past Speroni from inside the box to put the hosts in front.

Chamakh had a penalty claim ignored moments later when he appeared to be hauled to the ground by substitute Kyle Naughton.

Jerome hit the side-netting with an angled drive and substitute Defoe dragged an effort just wide of the post on 62 minutes.

Tony Pulis made a double change midway through the half by introducing Jonny Williams and Dwight Gayle for Bolasie and Jerome.

However, the hosts doubled their advantage within five minutes as Lennon picked out Defoe and the Toronto bound England striker coolly lifted the ball over Speroni.

Joel Ward saw his curler fly off target as Palace somehow tried to get themselves back into the contest.

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Mile Jedinak glanced a header off target as four minutes of stoppage time were signalled, during which Adlene Guedioura’s 40-yard effort flew just over and Chamakh was denied by Lloris. But the points were well wrapped up by Tottenham at this stage and they probably deserved it based on their second half display.

Next up for Pulis is a reunion with former side Stoke at Selhurst next weekend, another one which falls into the ‘must-win’ category. As ever, that is easier said than done at this level.

Crystal Palace: Speroni, Mariappa, Gabbidon, Delaney, Parr, Bolasie (Williams 68), Ward, Jedinak, Puncheon (Guedioura 81), Jerome (Gayle 68), Chamakh. Subs not used: Price, Moxey, O'Keefe, Bannan.