It was by no means a classic, but it was certainly a valuable win.
Tottenham picked up a 1-0 Premier League victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday — one that will ease a little of the pressure around manager Thomas Frank, even if the performance wasn’t much to write home about.
Spurs thought they’d taken the lead in the 17th minute, but Richarlison’s strike was ruled out after a VAR review for a Lucas Bergvall offside in the build-up.
That came against the run of play. Palace were on top for most of the first half but couldn’t make their pressure count, with Jean-Philippe Mateta and Will Hughes missing the target.
And the home side were finally made to pay three minutes before the break, when Archie Gray turned in Richarlison’s flick-on at a corner.
Palace wasted good opportunities in the second half, too, with Maxence Lacroix and Marc Guehi both missing close-range headers in the box.
Tottenham were restricted to half-chances and failed to build any sustained momentum after the break, although there were some isolated moments of endeavour as Palace pushed for an equaliser.
Richarlison again found the net on the counter-attack, but the Brazilian’s effort was again ruled out for a VAR offside, before Wilson Odobert’s effort came back off the post and Rodrigo Bentancur had a shot saved by Dean Henderson in stoppage time.
Here, The Athletic’s Jack Pitt-Brooke discusses the game’s biggest talking points.
A first goal for Archie Gray
There has not been a huge amount to shout about at Tottenham in recent months, but one of the brighter things has been Gray’s run in the side. The 19-year-old has now started seven of Spurs’ last eight games, all in central midfield, and here he was rewarded with his first senior goal.
Just before the interval, Pedro Porro swung a corner to the far post, Randal Kolo Muani headed it down, Richarlison flicked it on, and Gray was there to nod the ball into the net. Maybe not a goal of the month contender, but a reward for Spurs’ hard work on set pieces, and for Gray being in the right place at the right time.
Gray was making his 60th Tottenham appearance (Jordan Pettitt/PA Images via Getty Images)
Gray is still finding his voice as a midfielder, but he was busy defensively, making a few crucial interventions in Spurs’ box, and tried to move the ball forward when possible. The fact that he has been preferred in recent weeks to Joao Palhinha is testament to his commitment to at least trying to drive this team forward, which they desperately need, given how quickly they can look stodgy in possession.
What does this mean for Thomas Frank?
A win is a win for Frank’s Tottenham. They were not exactly good to watch, but then they have not been good to watch all season. They did find a way to get the three points, which, given the season they are having, is still something.
Spurs do have a template of sorts for these away games, based on keeping it tight, keeping it simple, and then making the most of opportunities from set pieces and on the break. It is a methodology that has worked so far this season. Spurs’ wins at Leeds, Everton, West Ham United and Manchester City were, to an extent, like this.
Frank was appointed Spurs boss in June (Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images)
If you were being optimistic, you could say that it speaks well of their efficiency and character that they fought like this, especially with Cristian Romero and Xavi Simons both suspended for this one.
But at the same time, Spurs fans generally have more of an issue with the performances rather than the results this season. They have not played much convincing football yet, to put it mildly. These three points are certainly valuable and important for Spurs, but what they really need in 2026 is to play football that makes fans believe they are heading in the right direction.
Unlucky Richarlison
Richarlison does not always get the rewards for how hard he works or the energy he commits to the Tottenham cause, but he can hardly ever have been as unfortunate as he was today.
Leading the line by himself, he ran hard all afternoon, even when he did not have much support or service. And he scored two goals, both of them disallowed for offside earlier in the move.
Richarlison had two goals ruled out by VAR (Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
In the first half, Richarlison pulled off to the far post and swept in Porro’s cross from the right. It came out of nowhere and would have been an impressive goal, but Bergvall was offside in the build-up.
Then, in the second half, with Spurs 1-0 up, he converted a Mohammed Kudus cross from the right, only for Gray’s initial run forward to be judged to be offside.
He still had other good moments, assisting Gray’s first-half winner and setting up Odobert’s shot that hit the post late on, but he did not get the goal his efforts deserved.
What did Frank say?
On Tottenham’s performance: “I think it was an even game. I think if you’re that close three times to scoring a goal, it’s not bad, and then we would have scored four. That’s a way to look at it.
“I really liked the desire, details, mentality in the team, and the character and resilience of the team is something I spoke about a lot. That is so important that we have that resilience. In a long Premier League season, you need to go to a very difficult away ground here, and fight and show character.
“Was it a top performance? No. Are there things we can improve? Yes. But to go here, with the season having been a little bit up and down, I think it’s a huge mentality effort from the players. And I think we played extremely disciplined throughout the game.”
On Archie Gray’s goal: “I think Archie is growing. He showed why he has a very good potential in many ways. I think it’s another fine performance overall today. Talking about resilience, he made a mistake in the Nottingham game, played another good game against Liverpool, growing as a young man.
“He was alert. I loved that goal, because he was alert, he was seeing where the ball will land and he was ready on it. He shows a lot of quality, he covers ground so well, he’s excellent in the pressing game, the defensive transition, brilliant at closing down. And then I think he’s good on the ball, but there are parts of the game where we are not top in that area, and didn’t show enough of his qualities there.”
On whether Lucas Bergvall, who was substituted, is OK: “I hope so, of course we’ll assess him tomorrow.”
What next for Spurs?
Thursday, January 1: Brentford (Away), Premier League, 8pm UK, 3pm ET