Tottenham Hotspur vs. Crystal Palace: Live Player Ratings for Spurs

Tottenham Hotspur were a completely different team after the break, responding to a pathetic first half with a two-goal showing in the second frame.

Christian Eriksen opened the scoring in the 50th minute after a neat flick-on by Emmanuel Adebayor, and with 17 minutes remaining substitute striker Jermain Defoe doubled the hosts’ advantage with a well-taken goal following an exquisite through-ball from Aaron Lennon.

The three points mean Spurs temporary leapfrog idle Liverpool into fifth-place in the Premier League.

Player	First Half	Second Half
Lloris	7	8
Walker	5	5
Dawson	7	8
Chiriches	6	7
Rose	6	7
Lennon	7	8
Bentaleb	6	7
Dembele	6	7
Eriksen	6	8
Soldado	4	4
Adebayor	4	6
Naughton	N/A	7
Defoe	N/A	8
Chadli	N/A	6

Steve Bardens/Getty Images

First-half analysis

Lloris: Claimed three crosses but didn’t always look all that confident between the sticks.

Walker: Being absolutely dominated by Bolasie.

Dawson: Distribution has been poor, but he’s had to cover for Chiriches.

Chiriches: Awful first half punctuated by giveaway that led to the Palace penalty.

Rose: Reminding everyone that Spurs need to sign a left-back.

Lennon: A rare bright spot for the hosts, and had a decent effort blocked by Delaney.

Bentaleb: Struck the post from distance.

Dembele: His passing completion rate of 93% masks a poor first half in which he gave the ball away far too often.

Eriksen: Looks uncomfortable out on the left.

Soldado: Who?

Adebayor: (Read above)

Julian Finney/Getty Images

Second-half analysis

Lloris: Made just two saves but looked confident on corners and crosses.

Walker: Limped off in the 48th minute and was replaced by Naughton.

Dawson: Defensively sound, but not always convincing on the ball.

Chiriches: Improved drastically after a forgettable first half.

Rose: Better after the restart, but left-back remains a problem position for this team.

Lennon: Earned an exceptional assist on the Defoe goal.

Bentaleb: Touched the ball 119 times and completed 93 per cent of his passes.

Dembele: Second-best to Bentaleb in the midfield, but he cut out the mistakes in the second half.

Eriksen: An important, composed opener from the Denmark international.

Soldado: Was withdrawn in the 58th minute after an anonymous display.

Adebayor: Nice flick to Eriksen on the Spurs opener, but hardly put in a full, 90-minute performance.

Naughton: Played in a delightful, arching ball to Adebayor ahead of the Eriksen goal.

Defoe: Scored his first Premier League goal of the season.

Chadli: Received treatment for an injury after running into the advertising boards shortly after coming on in the 76th minute.