Tottenham Hotspur 4 Crystal Palace 1 – Wilfried Zaha marks timely return but Eagles lose to Gareth Bale and Harry Kane doubles

BY SAM SMITH

Wilfried Zaha made his long-awaited return for Crystal Palace but was unable to prevent braces from Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane and Gareth Bale condemning the Eagles to a 4-1 defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Christian Benteke had cancelled out a Bale tap-in slightly prior to half-time and Zaha was introduced at the break as Palace sought to take control of the game. However, the hosts dominated the second half and took advantage of some poor defending by the south Londoners.

Spurs’ two goalscorers combined to hand Jose Mourinho’s side the lead on 25 minutes. Luka Milivojevic was dispossessed and Kane squared for Bale to slide home.

Palace had failed to test Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris until Benteke equalised in first half stoppage-time. Milivojevic atoned for his earlier error by crossing for the Belgian to powerfully head into the top corner. That was the 30-year-old’s fifth goal of a vastly improved campaign.

Zaha, absent since suffering a hamstring injury on February 2, replaced Ebere Eze at the break. The Ivorian seemed slightly rusty but had some bright moments – including hitting the post with a 25-yard drive after Bale had nodded Spurs back in front. The Welshman had converted after Sergio Reguilon’s vcross was headed back across goal by Kane.

England captain Kane then scored the best goal of the game. Matt Doherty passed to the striker, who whipped a wonderful first-time strike across goal and into the top corner of Vicente Guaita’s goal from the right-hand channel.

The 27-year-old was then left completely unmarked to head home Son Heung-min’s cut-back.

This was Palace’s first defeat in four matches, although they have now not won since the 2-1 win over Brighton on February 22.