In London it ends 0-1. Sunderland and Leeds instead drew 1-1, confirming the good momentum of both
Tottenham returns to winning ways by beating Crystal Palace, which officially opens a mini crisis. Sunderland and Leeds drew, confirming the good momentum of both. These are the verdicts of the two matches that close the 18th day of the Premier League: the 19th, technically the last first leg but with return matches already on the calendar (like the highlight Arsenal-Aston Villa) is scheduled between 30 December and 1 January.
CRYSTAL PALACE-TOTTENHAM 0-1
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A goal from 19-year-old Archie Gray, the first of his career, was enough to give Tottenham fresh air. The same goal, conceded in the 42nd minute, was enough to officially open Crystal Palace’s first mini-crisis of the year, with their third consecutive defeat. The success of Spurs, who were coming off two knockouts in a row and had won only once in their previous eight Premier League outings, was more than deserved: Gray’s goal, a close-range header from a corner, was the tip of the iceberg of a match in which Thomas Frank’s team had two goals from Richarlison canceled out for offside by the VAR and Wilson Odobert hit a post. Under the eyes of Fabio Paratici, Fiorentina’s object of desire but still Spurs’ sporting director, Tottenham showed why they should have more than the 25 points they currently have in the standings. One less than Palace, who have now not won in 5 matches in all competitions and who took to the pitch for the fifth time in the space of 11 days. There is no time to recover: the Eagles will return to the field on New Year’s Eve to challenge Fulham at Selhurst Park.
SUNDERLAND 1-1 LEEDS
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A goal for each half and a point for one. It ends equal at the Stadium of Light: host Sunderland confirms its European ambitions by rising to 28 points and remaining in seventh place, Leeds puts another small point between itself and third-last place (now there are 7), extending its positive streak to 5 games. The hosts could have closed with a larger lead than the 1-0 scored by Adingra in the 28th minute (Brobbey’s crossbar in injury time), but the guests completely dominated the second half, immediately finding the equalizer with the unleashed Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who scored for the sixth consecutive game, and then came close to winning several times. For both it was the last match of the year: on New Year’s Eve Sunderland will test their European ambitions by hosting Manchester City while Leeds will take their positive streak away to Liverpool.