PREMIER LEAGUE: Tottenham Hotspur 0 – 0 Crystal Palace December 6, 2014 23:00 White Hart Lane, London Referee: L. Mason LIVE COMMENTARY As always, thank you for joining us for todays LIVE text commentary of the game at White Hart Lane. Im Matthew Judge and it has been a great pleasure talking you through the action, and we hope to see you again soon! Tottenham, who currently sit tenth on 21 points, will now travel to Turkey to finish off the Europa League group-stages against Besiktas, while Palace - who, as things stand, sit 15th on 14 points - host Stoke City in their next outing. On the flip side, Palace boss Warnock will be absolutely delighted with the effort his side put in, with the point earned - as things stand - enough to keep them above the drop-zone after QPR picked up a 2-0 win over Burnley today. Both halves took a while to get going but did eventually spark into life. Spurs didnt create enough opportunities to win the game and were thwarted all match by Palaces rigid defensive structure without the ball. Jedinak leads his team-mates over to the clubs travelling fans and the Palace players are being clapped off after putting in a cracking display, which could have brought all three points had it not been for Lloris heroics. FULL-TIME! Boos ring around White Hart Lane from the home supporters as Spurs draw 0-0 with Crystal Palace. The visitors definitely had the best chances to win the game and have Lloris to thank for their point earned. 90 The fourth officials have indicated there will be a minimum of two minutes added onto the second-half, which has been lively to say the least. 88 Yellow Card Christian Eriksen 88 Palace break forward in numbers and after Bolasie has his shot well blocked, Puncheon cuts inside to drive a low shot towards Lloris, who gobbles it up comfortably. 87 The game has become so stretched in the last ten minutes and its full-on action at White Hart Lane. Lennon has added a lot more pace to Spurs attack and after feeding Chadli with a neat pass, the ex-Twente man fires just wide of the post. 85 CHANCE! Kane floats a cross towards Chadli, who knocks the ball back to Paulinho as the Brazilian fires a shot towards the Palace goal. However, Ward does brilliantly to stop it going in the goal. 83 Substitution Roberto Soldado Aaron Lennon 82 This is an unbelievable spell of dominance from Palace as Ledley latches onto a hanging cross towards the back post, but guides his header well over the crossbar from close range. 81 BIG SAVE! Puncheon has made such a difference to this game and the winger again broke down the left and his cutback was picked up by Bolasie, who had his excellent curling effort well denied by Lloris. 78 NO GOAL! Puncheon spins into a bit of space in behind Spurs backline and fires the ball past Lloris, only for the travelling Palace fans joy to be cut short by the offside flag. Replays show the officials made the correct call. 77 BIG CHANCE!! A moment of sloppiness by Dier gifts Palace a corner, and Puncheon from the resulting corner finds a bit of space and drives a shot off the underside of the crossbar. 75 Chamakh has been fantastic all game at holding the ball up and bringing Palaces wingers into play. He is looking tired but wins a free-kick for the visitors from a cynical foul by Paulinho. 73 Much like the first-half, both sides are creating opportunities to score but are lacking a clinical edge in the final third. 71 Puncheon finds himself in a one-on-one situation with Davies, but the left-back again does well defensively to block the ball out for a corner to the visitors. The Palace substitute has looked strong since coming on. 69 Bolasie has shone all match and again gets himself a bit of space with a surge towards the byline, and his low cross just flew past both Chamakh and Davies at the back post. Goal-kick to Spurs. 68 Palace have definitely dropped off in the second-half and are relying on their width to force their way up the pitch. Spurs are getting a bit more freedom in the middle of the pitch due to Palaces lack of pressing in that area of the field. 66 Substitution Wilfried Zaha Jason Puncheon 66 Substitution Ryan Mason Paulinho 66 Chadli makes a good break down the left flank and puts in a great ball towards the box, but Ward does well to clear at the back post. Spurs have showed a bit more energy in these last few minutes. 65 Both sides are making changes to alter things slightly as Zaha, who has played well this match, is coming off for Puncheon, while Paulinho is coming on for Mason. 63 CHANCE! And thats how quickly things can change! Eriksen drifts in from the right and plays a lovely reverse pass to Soldado, who fluffs a big chance one-on-one with Speroni inside the box. Big miss. 61 Its the Palace supporters who are making all the noise inside White Hart Lane so far as their side continue to thwart Spurs from finding any joy in this second-half. The hosts have really struggled to get in-behind to cause Speroni enough problems. 60 Zaha latches onto a long ball down the left and beats Dier again for pace but as he tried to cut back onto his left-foot, he lost sight of the ball and allowed Spurs to regroup. 57 Spurs currently have Lennon warming up on the touchline as Pochettino may be looking to spark some pace into his side. Those Spurs players currently on the pitch have been too lethargic in the second-half. 56 CHANCE! A short corner from Palace comes to Zaha, who beats Eriksen for skill down the left-hand side before driving a low cross towards the box, only for Lloris again to come to the rescue by getting a hand to it. 54 Palace are doing a great job at stopping in-form Spurs forward Kane from moving into pockets of space and creating chances for his team-mates. The youngster, who has scored nine goals in all competitions so far this campaign, has had a very quiet game so far. 52 The second-half has started much like the first in a rather slow fashion. Spurs are trying to get on the ball and pick apart Palace, but the travelling Eagles are looking dangerous on the counter-attack. 50 Bolasie whips in a corner but fails to pick out Dann, who was lurking in the centre of the six-yard box. The ex-Birmingham defender is clearly the primary target Palace are looking to pick out from set-plays. 48 Spurs have switched Eriksen over to the right after Lamela went off at half-time and while the Dane has found the ball at his feet a few times in the opening minutes of the second-half, he is similarly struggling to get past a rock solid Ward at left-back. 46 Substitution Erik Lamela Nacer Chadli 46 Welcome back! Palace get us underway for the second-half here at White Hart Lane, with Nacer Chadli coming off the bench to replace Lamela. As things stand across the Premier League today, Spurs and Palace will both stay in their league positions before kick-off if the score stays the same at White Hart Lane come full-time. HALF-TIME! Spurs and Palace have both had good chances to take the lead in the first-half but head into the interval level on the scoreboard. Danns header was arguably the best chance of an action-packed opening 45 minutes, which took a while to get going. 45 The fourth official has indicated there will be one minute added onto the first-half, with Spurs currently on the break. 43 CHANCE! Zaha picks up the ball from Chamakh and after getting half a yard on Dier thanks to a lovely bit of skill, the winger curled his shot just wide of the post but had Lloris stretching. 41 It seems Spurs have stemmed the flow of Palace attacks as the interval edges closer. Warnocks men have so far stepped off the gas in the last few minutes as Spurs continue to flood forward in numbers. 39 Spurs are moving the ball a lot quicker and the home supporters are now in full voice. Lamela, Eriksen and Kane are all floating about in the final third, while Palace are getting every man back but Chamakh to defend. 37 Spurs force Palace deep into their own half and a neat through ball to Soldado saw the Spaniard drill a shot straight at Speroni. Still a wide open game. 35 Spurs break up the pitch through Davies and the Welshmans cutback found Kane, who couldnt manage to feed a team-mate inside the box before Ward does well to snuff out the chance. Still 0-0, but Spurs are showing more urgency now. 34 CHANCE! Eriksen curls a beautiful free-kick over the wall but Speroni was equal to it by parrying the ball out for a throw-in to Spurs. From the resulting throw, Soldado latched onto a hanging cross and really should have hit the target. 32 Fazio has returned to the pitch as Eriksen marauds through midfield and wins a free-kick in a good position for Spurs. The breakaway came as Palace were again on the front foot. 30 Spurs are momentarily down to ten men as Fazio is receiving treatment on a head injury sustained from an aerial tussle with Chamakh. 29 Palace boss Warnock will be absolutely delighted with the start his side has made in the first-half. The Eagles are showing great energy in midfield and have created the better opportunities to score the opener, with Spurs needing to up the tempo in their game. 26 BIG SAVE! Lloris dives low to his left to deny Dann from giving Palace the lead with a magnificent bullet header from a corner. The Frenchmans reactions were top-drawer. 24 The game has opened up in the last ten minutes as both sides continue to carve up opportunities to break the deadlock. Zaha just beat Vertonghen thanks to a succession of step-overs and the Manchester United loanee has forced yet another corner for Palace. 23 CHANCE! Lamela finds himself half a yard just outside the box to feed Eriksen down the left and the former Ajax man drove a low cross towards Soldado, but the Spaniard couldnt hit the target. 21 Palace are moving the ball so quickly due to Chamakhs fantastic hold-up play so far. The ex-Arsenal man fed Bolasie with a great pass after bringing the ball down, only for the winger to mess his feet up when it mattered inside the box. 20 BIG CHANCE! Palace really should be 1-0 up! Bolasie beats Eriksen down the left with a lovely bit of skill and his pullback cross found Ledley, who sliced the ball over the crossbar unmarked inside the box. Big let-off for Spurs. 18 The home supporters are starting to get a little bit frustrated at the moment as Spurs are struggling to get a foothold in this first-half. Palace are looking comfortable on their travels. 16 ALMOST! A teasing corner from Bolasie was cleared just past the post by Mason, who was fortunate to have not buried the ball into the bottom corner of his own net. Still 0-0. 15 Jedinak drilled his free-kick straight into the wall but his rebound effort was fired low and brought a good save from Lloris. Other than Eriksens early chance, it has been all Palace so far. 14 The Eagles have been awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position after Lamela fouled Ward with a high-foot. Jedinak, who has scored five Premier League goals for Palace so far this season, is standing over it. 13 Palace work the ball from left to right nicely and some good work from Zaha down the flank has seen him win his side a corner. 11 The game is still yet to settle as both sides are continuing to lose possession quite cheaply. Palace have come into it more in the last few minutes, though. 8 Palace are still finding it hard to pass their way out of their own half so far and are therefore being forced to thrust the ball long towards Chamakh. 7 CHANCE! Spurs make a break up the pitch through Eriksen and some neat work from the Dane saw him nutmeg Kelly down the left, but drag his shot into the side netting. 6 Everytime Palace are managing to nick the ball away from Spurs, they are being pressed by Pochettinos men and are being given little time to break on the counter. 4 Its been a very slow start to todays game, with Spurs seeing the majority of the ball so far as they look to patiently decide the best way to break down a sturdy Palace structure. 2 Its a lively atmosphere inside White Hart Lane as both sets of supporters are bouyant in their chants. In the early stages, it seems Palace have set up to play in a 4-5-1 without possession, and spring into a 4-3-3 on the counter-attack. 1 The referee blows his whistle and Tottenham get us underway here! -The players have made their way from the tunnel and onto the pitch. We are just minutes away from kick-off here at White Hart Lane. Todays referee is Lee Mason. -TEAM NEWS: Palace boss Neil Warnock has made just one alteration to the side that narrowly lost 1-0 to Aston Villa in midweek, with Joe Ledley coming in for Dwight Gayle, who drops to the bench. -TEAM NEWS: Spurs have made two changes from the side that lost 3-0 to Chelsea in midweek, with Vlad Chiriches and Aaron Lennon both dropping out for Eric Dier and Roberto Soldado. -Palace substitutes: Hennessey, Delaney, Bannan, Thomas, Puncheon, Gayle, Campbell. -Palace (4-3-3): Speroni; Kelly, Dann, Hangeland, Ward; McArthur, Jedinak, Ledley; Zaha, Chamakh, Bolasie. -Spurs substitutes: Vorm, Kaboul, Rose, Lennon, Paulinho, Stambouli, Chadli. -Spurs (4-4-1-1): Lloris; Dier, Fazio, Vertonghen, Davies; Lamela, Mason, Bentaleb, Eriksen; Kane; Soldado. -TEAM NEWS: In this fixture last season, Tottenham won 2-0 in January thanks to goals from Christian Eriksen and Jermain Defoe, while Jason Puncheon missed a first-half penalty. In Mauricio Pochettinhos debut season in the Spurs dugout, his side have already lost four games at home this season, but they did win the last time they were hosts in a 2-1 victory over Everton in November. Palace have only won one of their last eight Premier League games and havent yet managed to claim a single point from any of their three London derbies so far this season. Spurs form, on the other hand, has also been patchy in spells. Todays game sees 10th-placed Tottenham aiming to keep in touch with the rest of the pack chasing for European football next season with a win, while Crystal Palace are looking to bounce back from their midweek loss to Aston Villa on home soil. -Hello and welcome to our LIVE text commentary of todays Premier League clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace at White Hart Lane. Im Matthew Judge and I will be your host for the match, which kicks off in 30 minutes time.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 09:26:15 +0000
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