Crystal Palace 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur: Jeffrey Schlupp scores late equaliser to deny leaders victory

Jeffrey Schlupp scored a late Crystal Palace equaliser after a mistake by Hugo Lloris to deny leaders Tottenham victory before their top-of-the-table game at Liverpool on Wednesday.

Spaniard Guaita had kept Spurs at bay with three excellent saves to deny Tanguy Ndombele, Sergio Reguilon and Kane before being caught out by the England captain’s long-range swerving attempt.

But Palace, who hit the post through Eberechi Eze, deservedly equalised when Schlupp bundled in the equaliser after Lloris spilled Eze’s free-kick.

In the dramatic final minutes, Spurs substitute Ben Davies hit the bar while Guaita made a spectacular save to keep out a free-kick from Eric Dier.

Spurs frustrated by Guaita

Tottenham’s 22nd competitive game of 2020-21 looked for so long as though it was going to be a case of job done ahead of their biggest test of the season in midweek.

But Jose Mourinho’s side were frustrated by Guaita, whose action at the death to deny Dier was one of the best saves of the Premier League season.

Dier’s set-piece appeared to be heading for the net until the Palace keeper flung himself across his line to divert it away with one hand.

Despite stretching their unbeaten league run to 11 matches, this will feel like two points dropped for the visitors.

In a highly competitive London derby, they had looked every bit a team at the top of the table as Guaita got down to deny Ndombele from close range before tipping over Reguilon’s rasping attempt and then stopping Kane’s header all in the space of a few first-half minutes.

Kane’s ninth league goal, after another assist by Son Heung-min was a gift, Guaita misjudging his shot and failing to make what should have been a routine save.

Palace responded well but looked set to end the game without any reward for their endeavour until Schlupp pounced after Lloris’ error – the first goal Spurs have conceded in the Premier League since the start of November.

Asked after the match about the France keeper’s mistake, Mourinho said: “Hugo is the best goalkeeper in the Premier League.”

Gutsy point for battling Palace

This was a well deserved point for Palace who marked the return of fans to Selhurst Park with a gutsy performance full of character.

Even before they fell behind, Wilfried Zaha forced Lloris into a good save while, shortly before half-time, the impressive Eze beat the Spurs keeper only for his attempt to hit the post.

Christian Benteke, fresh from scoring two in the 5-1 demolition of West Brom in the previous game, had two headed chances before Schlupp raced away to celebrate with supporters after making it 1-1.

Guaita’s save at the end to deny Dier raised the roof – and left manager Roy Hodgson beaming.

He will not want to see Kane’s goal again but the keeper showed great character to bounce back and produce a string of impressive stops when Spurs threatened a second goal.

Unbeaten away run continues – the stats

• Despite surrendering their lead in the second half, Spurs are unbeaten in their last nine away games in the Premier League (W5 D4), their longest such run since April 2018 (also nine).
• Spurs duo Harry Kane and Son Heung-min have now combined for 12 goals in the Premier League this season – only Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton in 1994-95 have linked up for more in a single season in the competition (13).
• Following 1-1 draws in both of their meetings in 2020, Crystal Palace have avoided defeat in consecutive Premier League games against Spurs for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
• Spurs have only lost one of the 21 Premier League games in which they’ve opened the scoring under Jose Mourinho (W15 D5), with that lone defeat coming against Wolves back in March.
• Since Jose Mourinho’s first game in charge of Spurs, Harry Kane has been directly involved in more goals in all competitions than any other Premier League player (43 – 29 goals, 14 assists).
• Crystal Palace midfielder Jeffrey Schlupp has scored in each of his last two Premier League appearances against Spurs.
• Spurs striker Harry Kane has scored five goals in seven Premier League away games at Selhurst Park, the joint-most of any visiting player against Crystal Palace at this venue, along with Jermain Defoe.

What’s next?

There’s a full midweek programme in the Premier Leaguer and Palace make the trip across London to face West Ham on Wednesday (20:00 GMT), while Spurs are involved in a top-of-the-table showdown at Liverpool at the same time.