This was dominance that translated cleanly from eye test to stats. Tottenham had 79% possession and completed 758 accurate passes to Palace’s 149, repeatedly pinning the visitors inside their box. Final third entries ended 100-26, and touches in the area were 67-2, a stark measure of where the game was played. The shot map told a similar story, with Spurs firing 34 attempts to Palace’s 2 and producing 3.26 expected goals to 0.14. The hosts also generated five big chances and scored two, while Palace had none. When Spurs did miss, they missed narrowly, with 12 shots off target and one off the woodwork.

Set pieces were relentless, as Tottenham racked up 20 corners to Palace’s 0. The press and recycling of possession were supported by energy too, with 95 sprints to Palace’s 50 and a distance covered edge of 112.3 km to 103.7 km. Crystal Palace defended their box in numbers and it showed in the ledger: 47 clearances, 30 tackles and 13 interceptions. Under siege, errors crept in for the visitors with three mistakes leading to shots. In goal, Henderson produced seven saves and prevented 1.03 goals by Sofascore’s model, a number that kept this from getting out of hand. Tottenham, for their part, needed only one save across the 90.

Mateta’s red and Gray’s opener

The match’s rhythm shifted early. Jean-Philippe Mateta received a straight red card in the 13th minute after a VAR upgrade, sending Palace down to ten for more than 75 minutes. Tottenham tightened their grip from there, turning territory into corners and corners into chances. The breakthrough arrived on 25 minutes and again from a dead ball. Mohammed Kudus delivered a corner-cross, and Archie Gray met it with a well-placed header for 1-0. It was one of just eight first-half Spurs shots, but the quality told.

At the interval Tottenham led 1-0, backed by a first-half xG of 0.74 to 0.04 and a 78% possession share. The hosts had six corners before the break and allowed only a single Palace shot on target. Gray picked up a booking on 15 minutes and later made way at halftime, his job done after scoring with his only shot and posting a tidy 7.4 Sofascore Rating in 45 minutes. Palace’s shape shifted without their striker, and their wide players were forced into longer defensive spells. Still, Henderson and a committed back line kept Tottenham’s lead slim at the half.

Second-half siege and the clincher

The second half was a sustained siege. Tottenham launched 26 shots after the restart, stacked 14 more corners and produced 2.52 second-half xG. Henderson made six saves in that period alone, including two classified as big saves. The pressure finally cracked Palace again in the 73rd minute. From another corner phase, Pedro Porro recycled play, Mateus Fernandes sent in the telling cross and Jan Paul van Hecke powered home a header to make it 2-0. The sequence summed up Spurs’ afternoon: patient re-entries, quality delivery and presence in the box.

Spurs’ bench kept the tempo high. Pedro Porro came on at halftime and delivered 49 passes, three shots and a 7.8 Sofascore Rating. Dejan Kulusevski added fresh legs late, testing Henderson with his only effort. Conor Gallagher also got into advanced positions, registering three shots and 0.464 xG in 27 minutes. Across the back, Micky van de Ven captained assuredly and completed 124 of 125 passes, while Andy Robertson created three chances and connected on four crosses before being subbed at 77 minutes. All told, Tottenham finished with nine shots on target, 13 more blocked and the game played almost exclusively within Palace’s defensive shape.

MVP: Jan Paul van Hecke’s all‑rounder masterclass

Jan Paul van Hecke was everywhere, and the numbers back it up. He earned a 9.2 Sofascore Rating, scored the clinching header and still found time to hit the woodwork. On the ball he was a metronome, completing 143 of 151 passes and amassing 160 touches, both match-high figures. His progressive work stood out too, carrying the ball 391.9 meters and adding 273.4 meters of total progression, a rare output for a center-back. In the final third he produced three key passes and posted 0.81 expected goals with 1.01 xGOT, reflecting the threat of his headed chances. He won four aerials, logged 10.22 km and kept composure with only nine possessions lost in 93 minutes.

Van Hecke’s showing fit the broader pattern of Spurs defenders driving the game. Andy Robertson delivered three key passes and a team-leading 0.83 expected assists, pairing that with two shots on target for an 8.9 Sofascore Rating. Micky van de Ven was near-perfect in distribution at 124 of 125 and added six duels won for an 8.3. Mateus Fernandes quietly filled the creative lanes with four key passes and a 0.54 xA, while Pedro Porro’s cameo kept Palace pinned. But the spotlight belonged to van Hecke, who owned both boxes and the build-up in between.