Son scores as Spurs defeat Palace 1-0

Dele Alli's absence from the teamsheet will have perturbed Spurs fans, but Gazzaniga's presence was most eye-catching, the former Southampton goalkeeper making his Spurs debut in place of the injured Hugo Lloris and Michel Vorm.

Gazzaniga had not played in the Premier League since December 2015 and overcame a rocky start to deliver a fine performance, making three excellent saves to stop Palace opening the scoring.

And Spurs' only real moment of attacking quality was enough to seal it, Son slamming home his 20th Premier League goal to become the top-scoring Asian player in the competition's history, surpassing his South Korean compatriot Park Ji-sung.

Such a scrappy affair was some comedown for Mauricio Pochettino's men after beating Real Madrid at the national stadium in midweek, but a victory was key on a day in which the four teams joining them in the top five - Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United - take on each other.

Palace were left to rue Gazzaniga's heroics and an open-goal miss from talisman Wilfried Zaha. They remain rooted to the bottom of the league, four points away from the nearest team.

There was little sign of the highlights to come when Gazzaniga was perhaps lucky not to be penalised in the third minute as he cuffed Mamadou Sakho around the head, rather than play the ball, under a teasing Zaha cross.

Palace stuck gamely to their task, repelling numerous crosses and limiting Spurs to long-rangers, and home frustrations soon turned to fears when Harry Kane went down clutching his ankle after taking a kick from Tim Fosu-Mensah.