Mateta sent off early as Gray and van Hecke sink Crystal Palace

Michael Oliver refereed. Roberto De Zerbi set Tottenham Hotspur out in a four-two-three-one: Kinský in goal, Gray, van Hecke, van de Ven and Robertson across the back four, Tonali and Mateus Fernandes as the midfield pair, and Kudus, Omar Marmoush and Tel behind Solanke. Pierre Sage picked a three-four-two-one for Crystal Palace, with Henderson in goal behind Richards, Disasi and Canvot, Óscar Mingueza and Mitchell either side of Wharton and Kamada, and McNeil and Yéremy Pino supporting Mateta.

Palace's plan had a short shelf life. Mateta was sent off in the 13th minute, so Palace's only starting striker was gone before anyone on either side had been booked. Gray became the first player shown a yellow card, in the 15th minute, and in the 25th he had the opening goal, Kudus credited with the assist. Nothing else went in before half-time.

De Zerbi made his first change in the 46th minute, Pedro Porro on for Gray. Óscar Mingueza was booked in the 53rd and withdrawn in the 60th, when Sage sent on Khalaili for him and Nketiah for Yéremy Pino. Gallagher replaced Solanke in the 66th. The second goal, from van Hecke, arrived in the 73rd, with no assist recorded, and in the 77th Kulusevski and Udogie came on for Omar Marmoush and Robertson while Osorio replaced McNeil. The last changes came in the 88th: Williams-Barnett for Tel, then Hughes and Lerma for Kamada and Wharton.

The statistics read like a list of who owned the ball. Spurs had 79 per cent of possession, 34 shots to 2 and 9 on target to 1. Of those 34 shots, 11 came from outside the box. They had 66 touches in the opposition box to Palace's 2, sent in 39 crosses to 2 and won 19 corners while Palace won none. Spurs completed 759 of their 816 passes, 93.0 per cent, against Palace's 150 of 220 at 68.2 per cent.

Palace spent the match mopping a floor with the tap still running. They made 46 clearances to Spurs' 5, attempted 30 tackles to 17 and played 51 long balls to 18. Their goalkeeping was busy too: Palace were credited with seven saves, Spurs with one. Spurs also covered more ground, 115.1km to 106.2km while holding 79 per cent of the possession.

The 2-0 scoreline reads closer than the match it describes. This was a siege with a short interval. Expected goals of 3.26 against 0.14 say how far apart the sides were, and the single Palace shot on target says how rarely Spurs' goalkeeper was asked a question. Spurs won 16 aerial duels to 10. The duels overall were close, 57 won to 54. The touches in each box were not close at all: 66 in the Palace box against 2 in the Spurs one.

Crystal Palace had won two of the three meetings listed here and Tottenham Hotspur one, with no draws. Both Palace wins came at Tottenham, 3-1 in March 2026 and 2-0 in May 2025; Spurs won 1-0 away in December 2025.

In the table as it stood at 19:21 on the day, with this match included, Tottenham Hotspur were eighth on 12 points from nine games, level on points with Bournemouth in seventh. Crystal Palace were 18th on seven points from nine games, level on points with Manchester United, and their 21 goals conceded were the most of any club in the table.