Spurs see off Crystal Palace after Mateta’s early red to pile pressure on Sage

Tottenham moved into the top half of the Premier League table after a comfortable 2-1 win over strugglers Crystal Palace Fortune is not favouring Pierre Sage. Just when the Crystal Palace manager needed a positive result, Jean-Philippe Mateta’s early red card condemned his side to a third straight defeat in the league, leaving their manager’s position hanging by a thread. Goals from Archie Gray and Jan Paul van Hecke ensured that Tottenham recorded a third successive victory for the first time in 616 days as they moved into the top half of the table.

To put that into context, Spurs have had three full-time managers since then, so it was no wonder that Roberto De Zerbi looked so pleased at full-time. By contrast, Sage’s future is in doubt, given that there was an expectation he could be sacked if they lost this game. While Mateta’s red card did him no favours and Palace did not disgrace