Teenager Archie Gray helps Tottenham beat Crystal Palace as Richarlison Richarlison has two goals disallowed

Without suspended stars Xavi Simons and Cristian Romero, Tottenham made minimal changes, with Richarlison replacing Simons and Danso slotting into Romero’s position. Despite being rated as underdogs, Spurs created the first clear chances of the match.

In the 17th minute, Richarlison thought he had opened the scoring after converting Pedro Porro’s cross, but VAR ruled the Brazilian offside. Following that moment, Crystal Palace began to pin Tottenham back, launching a series of attacks towards Guglielmo Vicario’s goal.

Tottenham eventually broke the deadlock just before half-time. Another Pedro Porro cross found Richarlison, whose header dropped perfectly for Archie Gray to nod home in the 42nd minute, giving Spurs a 1-0 lead at the break.

Trailing at home, Palace pushed forward in search of an equaliser, but their finishing lacked precision as several attacks came to nothing. In the 75th minute, Richarlison once again found the net, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside for the second time. The match ended 1-0 in favour of Spurs, who moved up to 11th, while Palace suffered a third consecutive defeat and dropped to ninth.

Speaking after the match, Gray said: “When I turned around and didn’t see my team-mates celebrating with me, I was a bit confused. I thought, have I actually just scored? But it’s a good feeling. Definitely one that took too long.

“I didn’t have to do much. I was so close to the goal, I just needed to flick it on really. It’s the best feeling. You work your whole life for that moment. Hopefully I can keep it going. Everyone said they weren’t expecting it to be a header, but that one came from my dad’s instincts.”

The goal was the first of Gray’s professional career, making him the youngest Englishman to score a Premier League goal for Tottenham at 19 years and 291 days.

Tottenham have now completed their 2025 schedule. Their next match will be away to Brentford on 2 January, before returning home to face Sunderland on 4 January and Bournemouth on 8 January.