TOTTENHAM 0 CRYSTAL PALACE 0

By Ayodele Odumade at White Hart Lane

Tottenham Hotspur’s dismal home form continued as they were held to a goalless draw by Crystal Palace.  Spurs have only won 3 of their 8 home games to date and are going to need find a way to cure their homesickness.

In the 6^th minute, Ryan Mason played a cross field pass from right to left, to Christian Eriksen, who controlled the ball but shot into the side netting.  With a quarter of the game gone Palace were awarded free kick, which was taken by Miles Jedinak but it was saved by Hugo Lloris.

Yannick Bolasie left Eric Dier for dead with some neat skills and crossed the ball to Jedinak, whose shot was just over.

After the midway point of the half, Ben Davies fizzed low cross from the left but Roberto Soldado’s shot was just over the bar.

Two minutes later, from a Palace corner Scott Dann headed the ball goal wards but Lloris got down low to his left and made a brilliant save to keep the scores level.  Just after the half hour mark, Erikson hit a free kick from 30 yards but Julian Speroni comfortably saved it.

After the half hour mark, Soldado had a chance to put Spurs ahead but he shot wide. On 75 minutes, second half substitute Jason Puncheon hit the cross bar and the ball was subsequently cleared by the Spurs defense. That was the closest either side came to scoring.

Spurs looked disjointed and never showed any sign that they could bring the character and effort they showed in their last home game into this one. They were short of ideas and once again Lamela was very disappointing. He seems to save his best form for the Europa league but has not adjusted to the Premiership.

Christian Eriksen looked jaded as if he is in need of a rest. The only midfielder who put a shift in was Ryan Mason but he did not last the distance as he ran himself into the ground. 

Crystal Palace on the other hand could not be accused of not trying. Their centre half partnership of Brede Hangerland and Scott Dann were hardly troubled, as they comfortably dealt with everything Spurs threw at them. Bolassie and Wilfred Zaha had better games today as they provide the necessary width for Palace, who came here with a good plan to keep it tight at the back and try and nick a goal.  They nearly did. Marouane Chamakh kept the Spurs back four busy as he chased every ball and did not give them any breathing space as he led the line upfront.

The Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino must be wondering how they are going to cure their homesickness. For Spurs to make any progress this season, it would not be enough for them to win away from home.  They simply must find a way to replicate it at home in front of their fans.

 Neil Warnock said: “We have improved. That is probably the most complete performance. We were focused and we knew what we were doing.  What can you say about Bolasie?  Chamakh ran himself into the ground today. We know we are limited in certain areas but I cannot fault them today.”

Mauricio Pochettino said: “It was not an easy game. We knew Crystal Palace is a very physical team. I am not happy with our performance and I think the draw was fair. We need to be more aggressive.”