Crystal Palace have knocked London rivals Tottenham Hotspur out of the FA Cup, courtesy of a surprise 1-0 victory at White Hart Lane this afternoon.
Spurs headed into the fifth-round tie as strong favourites thanks to their recent impressive form, but a rare Martin Kelly strike deep into the first half proved to be the difference.
There was to be no way through for the hosts in the second half as they struggled to break down their out-of-form opponents, leaving the Lilywhites to battle it out on just two fronts this season.
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The high tempo to the contest was set early on as Spurs came close to making a breakthrough just three minutes in, but Dele Alli's close-range header was somehow turned off the line by Yohan Cabaye.
Palace were not willing to sit back and simply defend, and they were quickly up the other end and appealing for a penalty when Jordon Mutch's volley cannoned back off Nabil Bentaleb's arm.
After seeing referee Craig Pawson wave away appeals, the Eagles were made to ride their luck at the back as Alli again came close to a breakthrough goal, this time seeing his curled shot hit both posts before being cleared away.
Despite getting into some promising advanced positions, the closest Palace came to finding the net prior to Kelly's eventual opener arrived a quarter of the way through the half when Michel Vorm was made to back-peddle to push behind Kyle Walker's awkward back-pass.
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Wayne Hennessey was forced into action up the other end of the field soon after to deny Kane's 25-yard shot from a free kick but, just as the half appeared to be petering out, Palace struck a killer blow via an unlikely source.
Kelly was played in at a tight angle by Wilfried Zaha inside the box, before lashing the ball into the top right-hand corner beyond the reach of stand-in stopper Vorm for his first goal in five years.
Spurs, with seven wins in their last eight heading into this all-Premier League tie, introduced Christian Eriksen in place of Mousa Dembele at the break as Mauricio Pochettino deployed a more attacking approach.
The tactical switch almost paid off immediately, too, with only a fine Hennessey save preventing Kane from bagging a leveller at the end of a well-struck attempt across goal.
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Kane was involved again moments later when Alli's inviting pass somehow went right the way through the box without a telling touch from the England forward, but momentum was now well and truly in the home side's favour.
The pressure very nearly told when the lively Alli almost matched his goal-of-the-season contender from the corresponding league fixture between these two sides last month, only for his 30-yard belter to fly inches wide of the mark.
Eriksen was next to try his luck, taking on a shot first time from the edge of the box which Hennessey managed to handle in a routine enough manner to relieve just some of the constant pressure.
Palace appeared to be happy to sit back and soak up the threat as the half advanced, but the Premier League's second-placed side struggled to create any sort of clear-cut openings.
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In front of their 9,000 travelling supporters, Palace had a glorious chance to seal the win 10 minutes from time when Wickham burst into the box with returning substitute Yannick Bolasie up with him, but the Englishman took on the shot himself which proved to be the wrong choice.
It mattered little in the end, though, as Alan Pardew's men held out with relative ease for the remainder to keep their season alive with just a third win in 12 outings.
For Spurs, on the other hand, they must now pick themselves up ahead of key fixtures in the Europa League and Premier League over the next seven days.
Daniel Lewis
