Full player ratings: Crystal Palace's 8/10 runs rings around Spurs' 3/10

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Crystal Palace stun Tottenham with a 2-0 win at Selhurst Park to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup. 

Spurs asserted authority early on but Palace soon caught Mauricio Pochettino’s men napping and took an early lead, Connor Wickham tapping home after just nine minutes, and that lead would double later on in the half after Andros Townsend converted a penalty.

Spurs had their own opportunity to score from the spot after Patrick van Aanholt tripped Juan Foyth on the stroke of halt-time, but Kieran Trippier fired wide, and Palace ultimately held out in the second-half to reach the next round of the FA Cup.

And so, after a shock result in south London, how did the players rate?

Crystal Palace

Julian Speroni – 7 – Put his woes from Liverpool behind and produced a very solid performance. The veteran shot-stopper rolled back the years with his handling and composure between the sticks.

Joel Ward – 7 – Had the difficult task of marking Nkoudou and the overlapping Walker-Peters this afternoon, but stood up to the challenge well and offered some support whenever Palace broke.

Martin Kelly – 8 – Formed a formidable defensive partnership with Dann. The duo were impenetrable at the back, not allowing Spurs a single shot on target in the first-half, and holding their nerve in the second.

Scott Dann – 8 – Coming up against the physically-imposing Llorente, Dann was aggressive in the air and unsympathetic in the tackle; this was an experienced performance from a seasoned professional.

Patrick Van Aanholt – 5 – Surged forward in his typical fashion, but put Palace in a world of trouble after conceding a reckless penalty in the first-half. However, the Dutchman’s blushes were spared after Trippier missed the subsequent spot-kick.  

Max Meyer – 6 – Took the pressure off Palace in tight situations with his neat footwork and creativity; the German is certainly more proficient when attacking, but performed his defensive duties very well for Roy Hodgson. 

Cheikhou Kouyate – 7 – Anchored the midfield exceptionally well, crunching into a number of challenges and offering intelligent protection in front of his defence.

Jeffrey Schlupp – 6 – An industrious and energetic performance from the converted central midfielder. Schlupp – a wide player by trade – was effective in the heart of midfield and broke with real venom when in possession.

Andros Townsend – 8 – A thorn in Spurs’ side all afternoon, Townsend was purposeful and penetrative in possession, running with the ball in precise strides without dwindling, and also converting his penalty kick without hesitation.

Wilfried Zaha – 7 – As dangerous as ever with the ball at his feet, the Ivorian was a menace and always looked threatening when charging forward. Zaha got himself into fantastic some positions but couldn’t always pick the right pass.

Connor Wickham – 6 – Although he couldn’t last the full 90, which was understandable, Wickham was a handful for the Spurs back three and kept his line expertly to break the deadlock in the opening exchanges – his first goal since November 2016.

Substitutes:

Christian Benteke (for Wickham 70) – 5 – Came on for the tiring Wickham and caused some problems in the final third but didn’t really stamp his mark on the match.

Luka Milivojevic (for Meyer 79) – 5 – Hodgson threw him on to see the match out and the Serb did just that. 

Jordan Ayew (for Townsend 88) – N/A – Came on for the closing minutes but hardly got a touch on the ball.

Tottenham

Paulo Gazzaniga – 6 – A sound performance from the Argentine despite conceding twice. His distribution was precise and he made a number of notable saves, particularly a pin-point Townsend shot in the first-half.

Kieran Trippier – 5 – The ‘Bury Beckham’ was struggling to find his feet in this game, but he had a huge chance to bring his side back into the match, though his penalty kick was fired wide on the stroke of halt-time.

Davinson Sanchez – 4 – Despite his discernible athleticism and great physicality, the club’s record signing was brushed passed with ease for Palace’s opener and had a few jittery moments across the 90 minutes.  

Juan Foyth – 7 – One of the only bright sparks in Spurs’ side this afternoon, the young Argentine was ruthless in the challenge and resolute in possession. He also done exceptionally well to manoeuvre his body and tempt Van Aanholt into conceding a penalty.  

Jan Vertonghen – 6 – Playing on the left of a back three for the first-half, the Belgian was unspectacular but was having a solid game until his manager hauled him off at half-time.

Kyle Walker-Peters – 4 – Got forward well at left-back but was extremely one-footed and kept cutting back in and onto his favoured right boot which made it easy for Ward. The full-back was caught out a few times and conceded a ridiculous penalty after handling the ball.

Eric Dier – 5 – Sat in front of the back four but offered very little in possession. The England international was far more purposeful in his passing range than his midfield partner, but failed to really impose his authority on proceedings.

Oliver Skipp – 5 – Saw plenty of the ball and sprayed a number of passes, but most were short, sidewards or back to his defence. Spurs needed a midfielder who could produce a defence-splitting pass, a la Eriksen, and Skipp was just not that.

Georges-Kevin Nkoudou – 3 – This was a massive chance for the Frenchman to catch the eye of Pochettino, but the winger was sloppy in possession and struggled to cause Ward too many problems. He also missed a glorious double chance in the first-half, and was wasteful after the restart.

Lucas Moura – 7 – The Brazilian was neat in possession and looked like Spurs’ best chance of creating something special. Unfortunately for the former PSG man, he had little around him in turms of creative quality, and most of his runs, as a result, came to nothing. 

Fernando Llorente – 4 – Offered very little in terms of link up play such was his lack of movement in the final third, and really the Spaniard should have got his name on the scoresheet but missed a few good chances. 

Substitutes:

Erik Lamela (for Vertonghen 45) – 7 – Transformed the game upon his introduction, but just couldn’t unlock the door in the second-half. 

Victor Wanyama (for Dier 63) – 5 – Came of for Dier who was having an unspectacular, and then had an unspectacular game himself.  

Kazaiah Sterling (for Lucas 81) – N/A – Came on for the last 10 minutes but it was far too late by that stage.

The post Every player rated as Crystal Palace send Spurs crashing out of FA Cup appeared first on Squawka News.



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