Crystal Palace 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur: Archie Gray sets record as Thomas Frank earns crucial Premier League win

Archie Gray become Tottenham Hotspur's youngest scorer in the Premier League since Dele Alli in January 2016, with his strike also coming against Crystal Palace.

Spurs battled at Selhurst Park on Sunday and earned a 1-0 victory, thanks to Gray's goal in the 42nd minute.

The teenager struck after a corner kick led to chaos in the penalty box, with the youngster rising high and flicking his head back against the ball from close range.

Aged just 19 years, 291 days, Gray is Tottenham's youngest Premier League scorer since Dele Alli, who also netted against Crystal Palace, but he did so aged 19 years, 287 days.

It was also the teenager's first ever goal for any club at senior level, with his drought ending in his 112th match.

Was Crystal Palace victory a false dawn for Spurs?

It is important to note that Spurs were encountering a Palace side that had struggled for form, and the loss against Spurs means the Eagles have now lost five and drawn two of their last nine games in all competitions.

That triumph was Thomas Frank's second in nine Premier League games, and the win reveals little about whether the club are on the road to recovery.

The head coach has faced significant scrutiny for his team's lacklustre attacking displays, and it is worrying that his team's win against Palace was the seventh time in nine league matches that they failed to produce an expected goals figure of at least one.

Frank will hope that the return of stars like Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski can boost the club's ability to create chances, though perhaps they will have to delve into the transfer market to solve their problems.

Top four: Will Tottenham qualify for the Champions League?

Spurs are now 11th with 25 points, but they trail fourth-placed Liverpool by seven points, a substantial gap considering Tottenham have only collected seven points in their last seven league fixtures.

The Londoners' next period of games looks favourable on paper given they face Brentford, Bournemouth, Sunderland, West Ham United and Burnley.

Failure to take numerous points in that stretch could prove costly as they will then face Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United and Arsenal in their following four games.

Qualifying for the Champions League will be difficult, but there is no reason to think that Spurs cannot qualify for either the Europa League or Conference League.