A first career goal for Juan Foyth secured Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park which takes them within two points of the top of the table on Saturday.
The 20-year-old defender recovered from giving away two penalties on his Premier League debut last weekend to be the second-half match-winner in Tottenham’s seventh away win from eight matches this campaign.
Palace remain without a win and an open-play goal at home in the top flight this season, although could have grabbed a late point from the London derby when Alexander Sorlorth shot straight at Hugo Lloris in stoppage time.
There were some nervy moments in the Spurs defence early on, although mostly self-inflicted as the shaky Lloris flapped at a cross which nearly dropped for Jordan Ayew.
Foyth played his goalkeeper into trouble with a slack back-pass that led to a corner from which James Tomkins, a constant threat from set pieces, could have done better.
Playing against his boyhood club, Andros Townsend worked Lloris with a drilled shot which the Frenchman turned around his post on 15 minutes, as Palace started brightly.
A change of shape midway through the first period helped the visitors take a strangehold of the game, with Dele Alli dropping deeper to influence the game on his first Premier League start in over two months.
Tottenham’s 72% possession before the break did not yield a host of chances though, with Moussa Sissoko engineering their best opportunity with a driving run and shot which was thwarted by Mamadou Sakho’s block.
Harry Kane lose one of his main supply lines when Kieran Trippier was forced off with a muscle injury, but was gifted a shooting chance by a slip from Luka Milivojevic, with Wayne Hennessey equal to his 25-yard shot.