Lose to Palace at Home, Tottenham in Danger
JAKARTA - Tottenham Hotspur is threatened with relegation after suffering a home defeat in the London Derby against Crystal Palace. In the English Premier League match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Friday, March 6, 2026 WIB, Tottenham, who played with 10 players since the middle of the first half, was beaten 3-1.
Tottenham is getting worse even though they have changed managers. Thomas Frank was dismissed after Tottenham was still struggling at the bottom of the table and touched the edge of relegation. Even though he managed to lead this North London club to automatically qualify for the 16th round of the Champions League, it was still not enough so Frank was still dismissed.
The presence of Igor Tudor who replaced Frank is expected to give a fresh wind to Tottenham. It's just that the former Juventus coach who has never played or handled this Premier League club has not met expectations. As evidenced, Tottenham who played at home had to admit Palace's superiority.
This is the third consecutive defeat when The Lilywhites meet fellow London teams. Previously, Richarlison et al were slaughtered by Arsenal 4-1 in The North London Derby alias North London Derby. Furthermore, they lost 2-1 when visiting Fulham's home in West London.
Tottenham also recorded a bad record because for the first time since 1975 they had never won in the last 11 matches. Meanwhile, in the domestic competition, they have suffered five consecutive defeats.
The poor results make Tottenham fail to improve their ranking. They are stuck in position 16 or two strips above the relegation zone with 29 points. The question is, Tottenham is only one point ahead of Nottingham Forest (17) and West Ham United who are in the red zone by occupying position 18.
Meanwhile, Palace managed to improve their ranking and move away from the relegation zone. Now, Palace is in 13th place with 38 points.
In that match, Tottenham tried to take the initiative to attack for the three-point target. However, they actually got a threat first from Palace. Midfielder Adam Wharton had terrorized the home team's defense when the match was only 60 seconds. Fortunately, his shot was brilliantly thwarted by goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
Furthermore, Oliver Glasner's team almost got ahead again when Jorgen Strand Larsen made a slick collaboration with Ismaila Sarr who then finished it with a shot that hit defender Pedro Porro before sliding into the Tottenham goal in the 29th minute. However, after being reviewed by VAR, the referee canceled the goal because Sarr was judged to be offside.
Tottenham, who had been under pressure, managed to overcome it and even took the lead through striker Dominic Solanke. It started with Archie Gray's action who penetrated the right side of the Palace defense and then delivered a short cross to Solanke. The pass was immediately taken by Solanke and a shot from close range broke the guest team's goal.
The goal in the 34th minute gave Tottenham a 1-0 lead. Only after that goal, Tottenham experienced a decline. Even defender Micky van de Ven made a fatal mistake by knocking down Sarr who did have the opportunity to equalize.
The referee did not hesitate to issue a red card for Van den Ven. The referee also gave a penalty to Palace which was executed by Sarr himself. Sepakannya managed to outwit Vicario who changed the score to 1-1.
The goal from the penalty spot like to break the morale of the Tottenham players. Moreover, they played with 10 people which made the defense sector weakened. As a result, Tottenham faced a disaster during the first half injury time.
It started with a mistake by midfielder Mathys Tel who failed to control the ball and was then controlled by Wharton. He then gave the ball to Strand Larsen who finished it to score. The goal in the 45th minute +1 brought Palace back to 2-1.
Tottenham's situation worsened after their goal was again conceded towards the end of the first half. This time, Sarr took advantage of Tottenham's fragile defense by scoring his second goal in the 45th minute +7. The score changed to 3-1 and lasted until halftime.
Entering the second half, Tottenham had been abandoned by some supporters. The stadium was only half full because they had left the stadium.
Meanwhile, Tottenham failed to catch up with the goal. When the match was about to end, the remaining fans could only boo their own players. The final score of 3-1 for Palace lasted until the end of the match.