When Tottenham won at Crystal Palace on the same date last year they moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League.
The Ange Ball revolution was in its first bloom and the new boss could be found gladhanding with his agent and a succession of beaming players as they came out of the dressing rooms.
Twelve months on and Spurs departed Selhurst Park a little more sheepishly, beaten on the road for the second time in as many games, languishing down the league in eighth, as far behind Chelsea as they are ahead of Everton.
At Brighton, three weeks ago, they crumbled to lose from two up. Ange Postecoglou branded it ‘unacceptable’ but here he was more concerned with the way his players allowed Palace to disrupt their rhythm.
‘One of those games with a lot of stoppages and battles and they ended up winning a lot of them and coming out on top,’ said Postecoglou. ‘There was a lot of disruption, it was hard to get any fluency.
Crystal Palace ended their winless start to the Premier League season by beating Tottenham
The visitors were well beaten albeit by one goal, scored in the first half by Jean-Phillipe Mateta
Oliver Glasner ‘s back three were strong and mobile, the wing-backs tireless and the midfield excelled
‘They were thriving on it and we should have dealt with it better. It was a different game to Brighton. We needed to stay composed and not fall into the trap. It just seems we kind of wanted everything to run smoothly and we know it doesn’t.’
Tottenham’s goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario was more scathing, claiming his team lacked ‘fight’ and criticising their ‘attitude’.
Nobody disputed Crystal Palace deserved the win, their first of the Premier League season to move out of the bottom three and get Selhurst rocking again.
‘We played with passion and courage,’ said Palace boss Oliver Glasner. ‘It helps us if we play in that way. We are a very good team and it’s very difficult to beat us. This is the benchmark.’
Jean-Phillipe Mateta scored the only goal following a ridiculous sequence of over-elaborate passes at the back by Tottenham’s central defenders and a sublime flick by Eberechi Eze.
There was much more to admire about Palace than that. Glasner’s back three were strong and mobile and the wing-backs tireless. Adam Wharton and Will Hughes excelled in midfield, bristling with aggression.
Eze flickered, decorating the occasion with his usual array of wonderful touches but it was about the whole for Glasner as he ended a torturous run of eight without a win.
His only disappointment was an injury to Jefferson Lerma, of greater concern because Wharton is playing despite a groin problem which will soon require surgery.
Spurs, meanwhile, go into a Carabao Cup tie against Manchester City ruing another misfiring display and lamenting the careless defending in the build up to the decisive goal.
It all started with an attempted chest-pass by Cristian Romero in midfield, intecepted and inviting pressure which they never properly cleared.
Moments later, Romero was back in his own penalty area clipping a pass square across his own goal to Micky van de Ven.
Eze flickered with some wonderful touches but it was about the whole for Glasner
Possession was stolen of Van de Ven in the build-up to Crystal Palace’s goal
Daniel Munoz closed in as Van de Ven waited for the pass to float down, stole possession and crossed from the Palace right. Eze drifted forward and helped it on towards Mateta with a wonderful touch, deflecting the ball behind his left leg with the inside of his right foot on the half volley.
Mateta applied the finish it deserved, crashed low past Vicario from close range. ‘A poor goal to concede,’ said Postecoglou. ‘We should not concede like that. It’s disappointing.’
The goal energised the game. Palace encouraged by their success and Spurs threatening an equaliser before half time.
Brennan Johnson struck a post, Pedro Porro fizzed one over and Dean Henderson made a fine reflex save to frustrate James Maddison.
Spurs continued to throw players forward but Palace became increasingly dangerous on the counterattack.
Eze had a goal ruled out for offside after one sweeping move. Wharton gave Maddison the slip with a body swerve in midfield and picked out Eze’s run with a long pass.
He beat Vicario, low from an angle, but a flag went up and replays showed him a yard offside at the beginning of his run.
There was a loud appeal for a penalty from the home crowd. Eze wriggled in search of room for a shot and tumbled under a challenge from Van de Ven, who did have an arm across his body, but referee Darren Bond ruled there was no foul.
Eze had a goal ruled out for offside after a sweeping Palace counterattack
The decision was about right and would have been far less controversial had Bond not been readily awarding free kicks for very similar fouls everywhere else on the pitch.
Vicario saved with feet from Ismaila Sarr and Eze volleyed wide a presentable chance by his high technical standards before Postecoglou made a triple chance, risking the surrender of control in midfield to play with four recognised forwards.
Mikey Moore was among those to make way. Moore, 17, had made his first Premier League start after sparkling displays in the Europa League, but was well contained by wing-back Munoz.
Spurs finished in the ascendancy but the best save of the closing minutes came from Vicario, flying to his left to keep one out of the top corner from Wharton. Confidence has been restored at the Palace.
