Vicario admits Tottenham ´lacked fight´ in Palace defeat

Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario admitted his side lacked fight following their 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

The north London side conceded the eventual winner in the 31st minute as Jean-Philippe Mateta fired past Vicario at the back post.

It was a lacklustre showing upfront from the visitors, too, as they managed only three shots on target throughout the match, resulting in an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.72.

Vicario was candid about the lack of hunger from his side, as their total of 11 shots in the game marked their lowest total in a single match in the Premier League this season.

“They fight and I think we lacked that today. We are disappointed because we have to fight. We play good football but maybe sometimes we lack the desire to fight. They show a real desire to fight for something,” he told Sky Sports.

“I just want to focus on us and what we didn’t do as a team. I think we lacked a bit of energy and to be better than them. We have to take this personally and it has to hurt us a lot. Football gives us an opportunity again and we have to be ready for the cup.”

Tottenham were without captain Son Heung-Min, who is also their joint-top scorer this season (three) with a total of five goal contributions.

“He is the captain but we have a big squad and we have to deal with that. We have to be able to win games without Son. We lacked in something, not in football, but attitude and fight,” added Vicario on his captain’s absence.

17 – Mikey Moore (17 years, 77 days) is the youngest player to start a Premier League match for Tottenham Hotspur since Stephen Carr against Ipswich Town in September 1993 (17 years, 28 days). Future. pic.twitter.com/QdOfoGj7mk

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 27, 2024

The result represented only the second win for Palace across their last 19 Premier League games against Tottenham (D2 L15), though both victories in that time have come at Selhurst Park while keeping a clean sheet.

Yet Ange Postecoglou’s side now have two defeats in their last three games and have failed to win any of their four away London derby matches in the Premier League in 2024 (D1 L3).

“It was one of those games with a lot of stoppages and battles and they ended up winning a lot of them and coming out on top. There was a lot of disruption and it was hard to get any fluency. They did better than us,” Postecoglou told BBC Match of the Day.

“It turned into a game they were thriving on and we should have dealt with it better. It was a poor goal to concede, it had nothing to do with playing out from the back. That can happen.

“I’d be very surprised if they were happy right now. Why would I be happy? If I’m unhappy then they’ll be unhappy. If you’re suggesting that our fans weren’t happy with today then that’s a fair assessment.”