Tottenham 3-0 Crystal Palace: Player ratings as Spurs beat 10-man Eagles

Tottenham are now unbeaten in their last 15 games that have fallen on Boxing Day following a 3-0 win at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday.

The visitors requested the postponement of the fixture following a Covid-19 outbreak in the squad, with manager Patrick Vieira among those testing positive, but the Premier League turned it down and the game went ahead.

Despite Vieira's absence, Palace carved out a decent opportunity for themselves inside 60 seconds, with Jordan Ayew lashing over from the edge of the Spurs box after a neat layoff from Odsonne Edouard.

Antonio Conte's men responded with an attack of their own immediately at the other end, with Jack Butland getting down low to push Son Heung-min's curling strike behind.

Spurs were struggling to impose themselves but looked the more likely to find the breakthrough. Oliver Skipp sliced a shot high and wide while Lucas Moura's glancing header from Sergio Reguilon's cross flashed across the face of goal.

Eventually Tottenham found the back of the net through Harry Kane. Emerson Royal slipped in Lucas in the right-hand channel, and he played a simple ball across for the England captain to score for his second goal in as many Premier League outings.

Spurs added a second moments later, with Emerson's high cross being met by the head of Lucas, who somehow out-jumped towering centre-back Joachim Andersen to double the home side's lead.

Palace's situation went from bad to worse when talisman Wilfried Zaha received a second yellow card for shoving Davinson Sanchez to the floor before half-time.

With a lack of immediate jeopardy, Spurs were able to play the second half at walking pace. Shortly after the break, Kane nearly grabbed a second after flicking on Son's clever corner, but it went over the top.

Tottenham added a third after 74 minutes with Son getting a deft touch on Lucas' dangerous cross, catching Butland out and putting the result beyond any lingering doubt.

Here are your player ratings...

Tottenham player ratings

1. Goalkeeper & defenders

Hugo Lloris (GK) - 6/10 - The birthday boy had very little to do between the sticks. Kicking was a bit off but that was forgivable.

Davinson Sanchez (CB) - 8/10 - Wound Zaha up to the point of getting the Ivorian sent off. Was otherwise tidy on the ball and never troubled.

Eric Dier (CB) - 7/10 - Looked a bit ropey in the opening exchanges but settled down.

Japhet Tanganga (CB) - 6/10 - Spurs legitimately missed what Ben Davies offers on the underlap in the left centre-back role, but Tanganga was at least solid at the back.

2. Wing-backs & midfielders

Emerson Royal (RWB) - 8/10 - Doesn't look particularly quick or strong, but Emerson dealt well with Zaha before his sending off and looked more potent in attack than in recent weeks.

Oliver Skipp (CM) - 8/10 - Tidy and up for the fight. Breezed through Palace's midfield at times and broke up several attacks.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (CM) - 7/10 - Wasn't particularly outstanding but he didn't need to be.

Sergio Reguilon (LWB) - 6/10 - A menace bombing down the wing, though his final product was a little off. Not that it was to Spurs' detriment today.

3. Forwards

Lucas Moura (RW) - 10/10 - After an incredibly frustrating opening half hour, Lucas took his game up several notches to deliver a match-winning performance that shows why Conte restored him to the lineup after missing the draw vs Liverpool.

Harry Kane (CF) - 8/10 - Quiet in portions but was superb whenever on the ball, whether that was dropping deep and spreading play or delivering in front of goal. Now scored in all six games he's played on Boxing Day.

Son Heung-min (LW) - 8/10 - Spurs' busiest attacker for much of the game, and got his reward with a goal eventually.

4. Substitutes

Steven Bergwijn (CF, 64' for Kane) - 6/10

Bryan Gil (LW, 76' for Son) - 6/10

Tanguy Ndombele (CM, 78' for Hojbjerg) - 6/10

Crystal Palace player ratings

5. Goalkeeper & defenders

Jack Butland (GK) - 4/10 - Came close to keeping out both goals but wasn't quite strong enough.

Joel Ward (RB) - 5/10 - At the very least slowed Son and Reguilon down, but that's little consolation.

Joachim Andersen (CB) - 2/10 - Lucas rose over Andersen as if he were Shaquille O'Neal dunking on Tom Cruise, despite being several inches shorter than the Palace defender. Embarrassing.

James Tomkins (CB) - 4/10 - Well, at least he wasn't posterised like Andersen.

Tyrick Mitchell (LB) - 4/10 - As mentioned, Emerson isn't that quick, but Mitchell did his best to make him look it.

6. Midfielders

Cheikhou Kouyate (DM) - 4/10 - Started brightly but faded and was overrun once Spurs got their tails up.

Conor Gallagher (CM) - 6/10 - Battled hard and joined Edouard as a striker when Palace had 11 men.

Will Hughes (CM) - 3/10 - Given the runaround by Skipp.

7. Forwards

Jordan Ayew (RW) - 3/10 - Very ineffective even in stretches where Palace were on top.

Odsonne Edouard (CF) - 3/10 - Isolated but looked handy whenever he did get involved.

Wilfried Zaha (LW) - 1/10 - Did little in the short time he was on the pitch and his dismissal killed any faint Palace hopes of a comeback. Merry Christmas.

8. Substitutes

Jean-Philippe Mateta (CF, 63' for Edouard) - 4/10

Jeff Schlupp (CM, 76' for Gallagher) - 5/10

Nathan Ferguson (LB, 83' for Mitchell) - N/A

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