Sarr sinks 10-man Spurs as Crystal Palace plunge imploding club closer to relegation | Premier League

Tottenham are sinking in a sea of venom. Relegation is no longer a distant prospect for the owners of the country’s best and costliest stadium. On the contrary, it is all getting all too real. Tottenham have rolled the dice, replacing a bedraggled Thomas Frank with a bewildered Igor Tudor, but they are only a point above the bottom three and offered absolutely no evidence that they are capable of arresting the slide during this shambolic defeat to Crystal Palace.

It was quite the evening at the ground where the fans hate the players, the players hate the fans and everybody hates the board. Micky van de Ven wore the captain’s armband and was sent off with Tottenham somehow in possession of a 1-0 lead. By half-time there was an argument that the Tudor experiment had already run its course. There has been no new manager bounce since the Croatian’s arrival. Tottenham have been well beaten in each of their three games under their interim and in the absence of anything resembling a new manager bounce there is a clear case for drastic action to be taken before all hope is lost.

The question, of course, is if there is anyone else to turn to in the final nine games of the season. Harry Redknapp would put an arm round the shoulder but he’s 79. Tim Sherwood is out there. Chris Hughton, a Tottenham man, is available. Maybe Daniel Levy has secretly been studying for a coaching licence since being removed as chair in September.

Levy’s departure was supposed to usher in a new era of success in N17. The line was “more wins, more often”. The reality, though, is that Tottenham are winless in the league since the turn of the year. Nottingham Forest and a resurgent West Ham will study this performance and smell blood. Tottenham were confused with 11 on the pitch and gutless once they were down to 10. They collapsed after Van de Ven, who will miss next weekend’s trip to Anfield, saw red for a stupid foul on the irrepressible Ismaïla Sarr. The punishment was brutal, Palace replying with three goals in the space of 12 minutes, and the mood in the stands could not have been more toxic by the time the first half came to a close.

Tudor changed system more out of hope than expectation. The clunky 4-4-2 from the defeat to Fulham was out. Conor Gallagher, Xavi Simons and Yves Bissouma dropped to the bench and Radu Dragusin was not in the squad. Would this low level shock therapy be enough? Tudor opted for a deep 3-4-3 formation, used Archie Gray and Souza as the wing-backs and ceded possession. It was not much of a plan, though. Tottenham were rushed and sloppy on the counterattack and there was no discernible pattern to their football.

Palace were smoother, with Adam Wharton an elegant presence in midfield. Tottenham were under a lot of aerial pressure during the early stages. A long throw dropped to Wharton inside the first minute but the England international’s shot was pushed away by Guglielmo Vicario.

Tottenham responded with a shot from Mathys Tel. Randal Kolo Muani turned into trouble a lot. Souza, a 19-year-old Brazilian who joined from Santos in January, lasted 43 minutes on his full debut. His main contribution was the heavy tackle that forcing Daniel Muñoz to go off with an arm injury.

For a moment it seemed fate was with Tottenham. Palace thought they were ahead when Evann Guessand rolled the ball across for Ismaïla Sarr to score. Out came those dreaded VAR lines, though. To his eternal shame the Senegal attacker had failed to keep a bit of his face onside.

Maybe it was Tottenham’s night. They led when Dominic Solanke converted a cutback from Gray. But the positivity lasted six minutes, evaporating when Jørgen Strand Larsen’s flick released Sarr and Van de Ven pulled the forward back.

It was witless defending. The punishment was severe: a penalty and a red card for the denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity. Tudor adjusted, Bissouma and Gallagher on for Kolo Muani and Souza, but Sarr equalised from the spot and Tottenham collapsed. With Cristian Romero already suspended, the defence could not absorb the loss of Van de Ven.

Palace had their second when Guessand dispossessed Pape Matar Sarr before Wharton’s deft pass sent Strand Larsen through to finish well. The game ran away from Tudor. It was not long before Wharton pierced Tottenham’s makeshift defence again, sweeping a pass behind João Palhinha and sending Ismaïla Sarr through to poke the ball past an indecisive Vicario.

The crowd watched in disbelief. There were boos when Vicario next touched the ball. Some fans screamed at a couple of Tottenham analysts in the press box. Another unhappy customer accused the board of killing the club.

It was poisonous and yet somehow also apathetic. At half-time there were images of fans streaming away from the stadium. The ground was half empty long before full-time. Tudor was still there, though. The supposed firefighter had accused Tottenham of lacking in attack, midfield, defence and the brain after losing to Fulham. Looking at Van de Ven’s dismissal, he probably had a point about the stupidity. However there was some heart from Tottenham during the second half. Tudor is not giving up yet. He pointed out that injured players will return for the run-in. At least someone sounded up for the fight.