LONDON - The specter of Premier League relegation loomed ever larger for Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday after a 3-1 home defeat by Crystal Palace left them teetering just above the drop zone.
When striker Dominic Solanke gave 16th-placed Tottenham the lead against the run of play in the 34th minute, a first league win in 2026 looked on the cards for the hosts.
But they collapsed in shambolic fashion before the interval with Palace replying three times to stun the hosts after Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven was sent off.
Van de Ven hauled back Ismaila Sarr in the area to receive a red card before Sarr coolly slotted home the resulting penalty, sending Guglielmo Vicario the wrong way.
Adam Wharton then played in Jorgen Strand Larsen to slot a low shot past Vicario in the first minute of stoppage time and provided another classy assist for Sarr to make it 3-1.
Sarr also had a goal ruled out for a marginal offside shortly before Solanke's opener.
Ten-man Tottenham battled after the break in a subdued atmosphere and emptying stadium but could not prevent a fifth successive league defeat which extended their winless league run to 11, their worst for 50 years.
They have 29 points from 29 games, one more than Nottingham Forest and West Ham United. Palace's victory lifted them into 13th place with 38 points.
Tottenham have been ever-present in the Premier League and were last relegated from the top flight in 1977, but interim manager Igor Tudor must turn things around quickly if they are to stay above the trap door.
Despite another blow, he remained relatively upbeat.
"It was two games, after the red card it was a different game. The second half we tried and I saw interesting things," Tudor told TNT Sports. "After this game I believe more than before, maybe that sounds strange but I saw something in the team, I saw some good energy and passion and fight."
Tottenham qualified for the last-16 of the Champions League in impressive fashion but have not won in the Premier League since beating Crystal Palace on Dec 28 and their home record is the joint-worst in the division along with Burnley.
Croatian Tudor was hired after the sacking of Thomas Frank last month - his reputation as a man for a crisis presumably why the club made a surprise appointment.
His record now stands at three defeats from three games though and Tottenham's next league match is away at Liverpool, after a Champions League clash away to Atletico Madrid.
Tottenham finished 17th last season but won the Europa League and while they are still in Europe, the priority is top flight survival with a BBC report estimating that relegation could cost the club 260 million pounds ($347 million).
Asked if the pressure was causing the sort of bad decision-making which saw Van de Ven dismissed, Tudor said bluntly: "We need to stop with speaking about pressure."
Last season Tottenham were spared because the bottom three were cast adrift well before the end of the campaign.
READ MORE: Tottenham edge out Villarreal thanks to early own goal
This time, while Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley look set to drop, the scrap to avoid finishing 18th will be intense, with West Ham beating Fulham on Wednesday and Forest drawing away at Manchester City.
While Tottenham face anxious weeks ahead, Palace are now 10 points clear of the drop zone and looking up.
"What I loved most is the reaction after we conceded the goal," manager Oliver Glasner said. "But we also have to be critical that we could have done better in the second half."
