A penalty from debutant Roberto Soldado was enough for Tottenham Hotspur to claim a 1-0 victory from their trip to Crystal Palace this afternoon.
The Spaniard broke the deadlock from the spot in the second half after Dean Moxey had been penalised for handling the ball inside the penalty area.
Below, Sports Mole has looked back over the contest to determine if the result was a fair one.
Match statistics:
Palace:
Shots 5
On target 3
Possession 45%
Corners 3
Fouls 6
Spurs:
Shots 17
On target 2
Possession 55%
Corners 7
Fouls 9
Was the result fair?
A 1-0 scoreline usually indicates that the match was a close contest, but the outcome of this one rarely looked in doubt once Spurs had gone in front. They played the better football and created the best chances over the course of the match. Palace may feel that they deserved a share of the spoils for their efforts, but they did not cause enough problems.
Palace's performance
Manager Ian Holloway can take a lot of positives from what he saw this afternoon. His side showed plenty of spirit and for large parts of the game they limited Tottenham to shots from distance. What's more, they won't come up against sides with Spurs' quality every week. The boss may also take encouragement from the fact that Kevin Phillips and Marouane Chamakh made a difference from the bench, which also allowed Dwight Gayle to play in a more central role and use his pace.
Spurs' performance
A win is a win, as they say. Spurs were by no means at their fluent best, but they did more than enough to emerge victorious from this encounter by a more comfortable margin. If they had scored two or three goals, then it would not have flattered them. One negative was the quality of crossing, which frustrated Soldado. Aaron Lennon in particular was guilty on consistently failing to clear the first man. On a positive note, defensively they stood firm when Palace rallied in the closing stages.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Mile Jedanik: Many felt that the Australian was Palace's best player during their promotion campaign last term and he carried on that form today. The midfielder refused to let his opponents settle in possession of the ball and made countless tackles. If Palace are to stay up, then their skipper is going to have produce more performances of the same ilk over the coming months.
Biggest gaffe
With Soldado at the club, Jermain Defoe could well find himself in shadows. He had the perfect chance to send a reminder Andre Villas-Boas's way when he replaced the Spaniard, but having burst into the area, he scuffed his shot way wide of the target when he had just Julian Speroni to beat. Nine times out of 10 Defoe would have scored that.
Referee performance
The biggest credit you can give Mark Clattenburg is the fact you barely noticed him. He let the players provide the entertainment and was keen to play advantage whenever it was possible. Hopefully other referees will follow his example over the coming campaign.
What next?
Palace: Next weekend Holloway takes his side to Stoke City.
Spurs: It is a return to European action in the Europa League for Spurs when they travel to Dinamo Tbilisi on Thursday.
