Crystal Palace ended 10-man Tottenham’s perfect start to the Premier League season as a penalty from Wilfried Zaha and a late double from Odsonne Edouard sealed a 3-0 win on Saturday.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side Japhet Tanganga was sent off in quick succession for two bookings in the second half at Selhurst Park.
Zaha made sure Palace took advantage of his numerical superiority when he netted from the spot after a handball from Ben Davis.
Edouard came off the bench to wrap up the points with two goals on his debut following his £15m ($20m) move from Celtic in August.
Tottenham started the league campaign for the first time in their history with three wins and three clean sheets.
But the North Londoners were unable to pursue that race as they paid the price for a lackluster performance.
“We didn’t know how to play the game and things got harder and harder with the conditions,” Nuno said.
“There were many obstacles, but there were also a lot of mistakes. Referees are something we don’t talk about.
We have to look at ourselves and we didn’t play well today.
It was a sweet moment for Patrick Vieira as the former Arsenal midfielder secured his first win as Palace boss at the expense of his old club’s arch-rivals.
Vieira, who lost just two of 18 league games against Tottenham as a player, had failed to win any of his first four matches in all competitions since Roy Hodgson at Palace.
“Which was really important for us, we needed to win because since I came here, those players are working really well and hard. Everything was perfect today,” Vieira said.
“I’m really happy for Edouard because he just arrived a few days ago. The way he finished shows that he’s a proper goalscorer.”
Tottenham were well below their best without Son Heung-min after the South Korean forward suffered a calf injury on international duty.
Nuno’s men suffered another injury when England defender Eric Dier limped early.
sluggish tottenham
Lethargic Tottenham failed to score a single shot in the first half.
When Lucas Moura ended that drought soon after the hiatus, the Brazilian’s effort – saved by Vicente Guetta – attracted sarcastic chants of “we’ve taken a shot” from Tottenham fans.
Both Zaha and Tanganga were booked after a scuffle following the Tottenham defender’s ugly foul on the Ivorian forward.
Tanganga was unable to contain his emotions and just three minutes later, he earned his marching order after slamming into another crude tackle on Jordan Ayew.
With 10 men left to play the final 32 minutes, Tottenham went into self-preservation mode, defending deep in their own half.
But Palace’s pressure was eventually rewarded in the 76th minute when Davies blocked Conor Gallagher’s cross with his hand and Zaha stepped in to convert the penalty for his first goal of the season.
Edouard defeated Tottenham in the 84th minute.
The French striker was only seconds away when he met Zaha’s cross with a clinical finish in the bottom corner with his first touch.
douard was not yet finished and, in stoppage-time, he took Gallagher’s pass and directed his shot off Lloris to get off to an incredible start.
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