Tottenham's Kieran Trippier misses penalty as on-song Crystal Palace reach FA Cup fifth round

Crystal Palace 2-0 Tottenham: The Spurs full-back missed from the spot moments before half-time and his team never recovered

Kieran Trippier fired his penalty wide of the target (AP)

The nights are getting longer but the prospects for Tottenham’s season are narrowing. Out of the League Cup on penalties on Thursday night, they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon. From four competitions to two in the space of four days.

Spurs do still have the two biggest trophies of all to play for. Nine points off the top in the league, still looking good for a top-four finish. And in the Champions League last 16, hosting Borussia Dortmund, Jadon Sancho, Marco Reus and all, two weeks on Wednesday. But that game has more pressure on it than ever before now that Spurs are out of both domestic cups. If they are to win a trophy this season, the question they are always asked, they will have to win one of the hardest.

But then the domestic cups have never been Pochettino’s priority. Keeping Spurs in the top four with this group of players is hard enough, especially when injuries start to bite. On Thursday at Stamford Bridge they did well to drag the tie to penalties after being outplayed by Chelsea. But here at a bitterly cold Selhurst Park they had nothing left to give.

Connor Wickham, far side, turns away after scoring the opener (Reuters)

Palace deserved to win this game and could have won it by more. They put out a stronger team, in relative and absolute terms, and their players were more determined to win. They cut through Spurs in the first half, went 2-0 up and could have had more. Any side with Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend will be dangerous in this competition with a favourable draw.

Pochettino sold Townsend three years ago this weekend and how Spurs could have done with him today. With no Harry Kane, Dele Alli or Heung Min Son, and with Christian Eriksen rested, this was as weak a Spurs first eleven of the Pochettino era. With Fernando Llorente and Georges Kevin Nkoudou in the front line Tottenham struggled to create anything real. Their best chance was a penalty late in the first half, dragged wide by the unlikely figure of Kieran Trippier.

By that point Spurs were 2-0 down and despite enjoying more possession in the second half they never looked like turning the game around. The decisive moment came after just nine minutes, when Palace that they had the physical and motivational edge. Jeffrey Schlupp has not been a regular here this season and he began with the effort of a man keen to show why he should be. When he got the ball after nine minutes he burst forwards, leaving Oliver Skipp looking callow and lost. Next up was Davinson Sanchez, standing idly in his area, unready for Schlupp, unable to stop his run.

Andros Townsend hits his penalty past Hugo Lloris (PA)

When Schlupp shot, Paolo Gazzaniga could only palm the ball out and there was Connor Wickham to gratefully knee the ball over the line. It was not a difficult goal to score but no-one on the pitch was hungrier for individual success than he was. This was his first goal since November 2016 after all, back when Alan Pardew was still manager. And he celebrated with the intensity of a man who has been denied any professional validation for far too long.

This should have woken up Spurs, but in fact Palace continued to sweep through them, first to everything, sharper and stronger on the ball. Wilfried Zaha found room on the left to cross, aiming for Wickham’s head, but finding Kyle Walker-Peters’ hand instead. It was the most obviously penalty of the weekend and Townsend had no trouble scoring it. He should even have made it 3-0 straight after, when a brilliant move through Patrick van Aanholt and Zaha ended up with Townsend shooting straight at Gazzaniga.

This was the nadir of Spurs’ performance, from which point they could only improve. And while their general play did get better, it was not quite so good that they could put the ball into the net. Nkoudou had two chances when Trippier found him from a clever free-kick, but in his first Spurs start since 2017, he was always going to be rusty. He hit the ball straight at Julian Speroni twice.

But it was progress of sort and just before the break Spurs even won a penalty, after Van Aanholt tripped Foyth in the box. But with Kane, Alli, Son and Eriksen all missing there was no-one left to take it. The job eventually fell to Trippier, but his kick was delayed by the ball being blown from its spot by the bitter wind. He never regained his composure and hoiked his kick miles to the wrong side of Speroni’s right-hand post.

Spurs needed more in the second half and it made sense to remove one of the three centre-backs in Jan Vertonghen for Erik Lamela, their best attacking player on the bench. And it worked, in the limited sense that it got Spurs more of the ball further up the pitch, looking at least like a coherent football team again.

Lamela buzzed around ominously, always there on the edge of the box, trying to make something happen. He shot straight at Speroni from 20 yards out, which was genuinely the closest Spurs came to pulling one back. The second half of this game was a non-event. Spurs will hope the second half of their season does not go the same way.