Tottenham beat ten-man Crystal Palace 2-0
Archie Gray and Jan Paul van Hecke scored after Jean-Philippe Mateta's early red card, ending Palace's run of wins on their recent visits to this ground.
By Harvey Watkins,
Tottenham beat Crystal Palace 2-0 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday evening. Goals from Archie Gray and Jan Paul van Hecke settled a Premier League match that turned early. Jean-Philippe Mateta was shown a straight red card in the 13th minute, and Palace played the remaining three quarters of the game a man short.
An early dismissal shaped the evening
The order of events matters here. Mateta's dismissal came before either side had scored, so Palace spent almost the entire contest a player down. It was a direct red rather than the second of two bookings, so there was no warning: one moment Palace had a full side, the next they did not.
Tottenham took 12 minutes to turn the numerical advantage into a goal, with Gray scoring in the 25th minute. For a long stretch after that the margin stayed at one. That is worth noting. A single-goal lead leaves a match open to one moment going the other way, even against ten men. Palace were still within reach until the 73rd minute, when van Hecke doubled the lead and left them too much to do in the time remaining.
Tottenham also kept a clean sheet. Against a side reduced so early that might be expected. Even so, it meant Palace were never given a way back into the game.
A change in a recent pattern
Before Saturday, Palace had the better of the recent meetings, winning three of the previous five. More pointedly, they had won on each of their two previous visits here, 2-0 in May 2025 and 3-1 in March 2026. Tottenham's last home win in the fixture had been a 3-1 victory in March 2024.
This result gives Tottenham two wins from the three most recent meetings. The other was a 1-0 away win in December 2025, and both came without conceding.
How much to read into that is another matter. The red card meant this was not a like-for-like contest for most of its length, and it would be a stretch to treat it as clear evidence that the balance between the clubs has shifted. Across the six most recent meetings the record now stands level at three wins each, and none of those games was decided by more than two goals.
What it amounted to
For Tottenham, this was a match they were expected to win once Palace went down to ten, and they won it without alarm on the scoreboard. The second goal arrived late enough that the outcome stayed in some doubt for a while, but they did not concede and they did add to the lead.
For Palace, the evening was defined by the 13th minute. Their recent results at this ground had given them reason to travel with some confidence. Losing a player so early took that away, and the scoreline reflected it.
- Tottenham: Archie Gray 25, Jan Paul van Hecke 73
- Crystal Palace: Jean-Philippe Mateta sent off 13