Tottenham - 1 Crystal Palace - 1: Tottenham fans must have felt pretty good before kick-off. Not only had their team won five successive league games, but Jermain Defoe said in an interview on the pitch: "I don't want to go anywhere. I love it here." What followed brought the home supporters back down with a bump.
A point was the most Spurs deserved after Crystal Palace had dominated the first half, and this fact confirmed that all is not perfect at White Hart Lane despite their recent run. Only wasteful finishing meant Palace did not score three times before the interval, and Tottenham then threw away the lead gained through Defoe.
Poor goalkeeping by Paul Robinson helped Andy Johnson to equalise from Palace's first real chance of a second half in which Spurs were the better side. Robinson was slow to react to a shot that the striker hit early, but hardly fiercely, from about 30 yards, thereby spoiling the memory of a terrific instinctive save he had made from the same player before half-time.
Johnson ought to have taken that close-range chance as Palace enjoyed their best period of the game, their five-man midfield not only disrupting Tottenham's flow but allowing them to dictate the play and get support forward to their lone striker.
Only when Martin Jol brought on Pedro Mendes for Rohan Ricketts at the interval did Tottenham begin to gain a real foothold. Yet they failed to build on Defoe's goal. Long-range shots by Defoe and Frederic Kanoute were their only real efforts before Johnson struck a goal which confirmed that he is as important to Palace as Defoe is to Spurs.
The Palace manager, Iain Dowie, believes Johnson has the potential to emulate the achievements of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Thierry Henry.
"AJ's got a long way to go," he said. "I'm not going to put him in with Van Nistelrooy and Henry yet because they've done it season in, season out. It's whether he can do that. But he's doing it two seasons in a row and there's no reason why he can't continue to score goals. I see more in his game to come."
Dowie will take heart from this point but will know his team could have won. They exposed weaknesses in Tottenham's defence before the interval, notably creating openings with crosses and set-pieces but also making a chance that Vassilis Lakis ought to have taken. Added to that were Johnson's miss and two free headers wasted by Aki Riihilahti from corners.
That profligacy looked costly when Defoe, having hit a post, made the most of space he was given to score from 20 yards.
There was a lack of drive, too, and their poor start mirrored that at Norwich on Sunday. Kanoute was a rare bright spot and they will surely need to begin more sharply in their next three league games, against Everton, Manchester United and Chelsea.
TOTTENHAM: Robinson, Pamarot, King, Edman, Gardner, Ricketts (Pedro Mendes 45), Brown, Carrick, Ziegler, Defoe, Kanoute (Keane 83). Subs Not Used: Fulop, Redknapp, Davenport. Booked: Pamarot. Goals: Defoe 54.
CRYSTAL PALACE: Kiraly, Butterfield, Hall, Sorondo, Granville, Routledge (Torghelle 68), Soares, Riihilahti, Hughes, Lakis, Johnson. Subs Not Used: Speroni, Andrews, Leigertwood, Boyce. Goals: Johnson 79.
Referee: U Rennie (S Yorkshire).
