Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday ground out a much-needed three points for the under-fire head coach Thomas Frank with a 1-0 win at Crystal Palace, while high-flying Sunderland were held 1-1 by Leeds United.
Archie Gray was Spurs’ unlikely match winner at Selhurst Park with his first senior goal as Frank’s men won for just the second time in nine league games.
Richarlison had two goals disallowed for offside, but Gray’s header was enough for Spurs against a Palace side running out of steam after a grueling schedule.
Photo: AFP
“In the end we got over the line,” Frank said. “The team showed great resilience today and I think the desire beat the details in the game.”
The Eagles are winless in five games as they have hit the wall from trying to stretch their limited resources across three competitions.
Oliver Glasner described his side’s set-piece defending in a 4-1 defeat to Leeds the previous weekend as “embarrassing” and it was a dead ball that cost them once more against a Spurs team badly lacking in creativity.
An overdue victory will temporarily ease the scrutiny on Frank, but another performance devoid of flair going forward will do little to quieten his doubters in the Tottenham support.
The visitors did not have a shot on target from open play before halftime, but were only denied by a video assistant referee review for offside when Richarlison thought he had opened the scoring.
Instead the source of the only goal was an unexpected one as Gray headed in Richarlison’s flick from a corner for his first goal in 112 appearances for Tottenham and Leeds.
Palace dominated territory and possession after halftime, but lacked the class needed in front of goal to make Spurs pay.
Justin Devenny blazed high over the bar from close range, before Maxence Lacroix headed wide.
Palace were handed another reprieve when Richarlison turned in Mohammed Kudus’ cross only for the video assistant referee to intervene again, but Tottenham held out to climb to 11th, just one point behind Palace in ninth.
Earlier, Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored for a sixth consecutive Premier League game as Leeds denied Sunderland a place in the top five with a draw at the Stadium of Light.
Simon Adingra fired the Black Cats into a halftime lead, but the in-form Calvert-Lewin leveled early in the second period to pull Leeds further clear of the relegation zone.
Sunderland are still yet to lose at home on their return to the top flight, but have been severely depleted by the departure of six players to the Africa Cup of Nations.
Adingra was one of the Ivory Coast’s key men in winning the Cup of Nations on home soil last year, but he was not selected this time.
Sunderland were grateful for that decision as the former Brighton & Hove Albion winger curled in his first goal for the club from Granit Xhaka’s fine through-ball on 28 minutes.
Leeds had been the better side for large spells of the first half and started the second with a bang.
Calvert-Lewin latched onto Brenden Aaronson’s low cross for his eighth goal of the season, seven of which have come in the past six games.
The former Everton striker’s form has played a major role in edging Leeds toward safety and keeping his head coach Daniel Farke in a job.
The German was reportedly on the brink of being dismissed prior to a five-game unbeaten run that has taken Leeds seven points clear of the bottom three.
“I’m not dancing on the table tonight,” Farke said. “The feeling was if we were a bit more clinical we should have won the game.”
Sunderland missed the chance to leapfrog Manchester United and Chelsea, but sit seventh, just four points outside the top four.
TOOTHLESS: Bologna never looked like finding a way back, and Antonio Conte and his substitutes were waiting to celebrate long before the final whistle SSC Napoli on Monday lifted the Italian Supercoppa with a 2-0 win over Bologna in Riyadh, David Neres netting both goals to earn the league champions a deserved victory over the toothless Coppa Italia winners. Neres opened the scoring with a stunning strike from distance six minutes before halftime and found the net again in the 57th minute when Bologna were caught trying to play out of defense. “We came here as champions of Italy, we wanted this trophy and we showed it with a great performance,” Napoli forward Matteo Politano told Mediaset. “We could have scored a few more goals, but
Backup quarterback Luke Weaver on Wednesday night threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Nick Cenacle with 10 seconds left, as the University of Hawaii rallied for a 35-31 comeback victory over the University of California, Berkeley in a thrilling Hawaii Bowl. Weaver entered the game after Micah Alejado took a hard hit on the previous play. With the Rainbow Warriors (9-4) in range for a tying field goal, coach Timmy Chang took a shot at the end zone, and Cenacle got between two defensive backs and made the contested catch. “How amazing is that?” Chang said. “It’s a program that is built
Hosts Morocco on Friday were held to a 1-1 draw by Mali at the Africa Cup of Nations, ending their world record run of wins and leaving them still to make sure of progress to the next stage. Midfielder Brahim Diaz tucked away a penalty in stoppage-time at the end of the first half, but Mali equalized from the spot midway through the second half through Lassine Sinayoko. Both penalties were awarded after video reviews in a tempestuous clash at the end of a busy day of action at the tournament. Morocco were atop the Group A standings with four points, while Zambia,
An astounding 20 wickets fell on a frantic first day of the fourth Ashes Test yesterday, with Australia all out for 152 before storming back to dismiss England for 110 and leave the clash on a knife-edge. England skipper Ben Stokes won a key toss on a green track and his quicks feasted after sending in the hosts under overcast skies in front of 94,199 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was the biggest cricket crowd ever at the cavernous arena, exceeding the 93,013 who watched the 2015 World Cup final, and they witnessed the home side collapse with Josh Tongue
RSS