Spurs deliver big win for Frank, as Sunderland denied spot in top five

LONDON — Tottenham's players ground out a much-needed three points for their under-fire manager Thomas Frank with a 1-0 win at Crystal Palace, while high-flying Sunderland was held 1-1 by Leeds on Sunday.

Archie Gray was Spurs' unlikely match winner at Selhurst Park with his first senior goal as Spurs won for just the second time in nine league games.

Richarlison had two goals disallowed for offside, but Gray's header was enough for Tottenham against a Palace side running out of steam after a grueling schedule.

"In the end we got over the line," said Frank. "The team showed great resilience today and I think the desire beat the details in the game."

The Eagles are winless in five games, seemingly hitting a wall after trying to stretch their limited resources across three competitions.

Oliver Glasner described his side's set-piece defending in a 4-1 defeat to Leeds the previous weekend as "embarrassing", and it was a dead ball that cost it once more against a Spurs team badly lacking in creativity.

An overdue victory will temporarily ease the scrutiny on Frank, but another performance devoid of flair going forward will do little to quieten his doubters among the Tottenham fan base.

The visiting side did not have a shot on target from open play before halftime, but was denied by a VAR review for offside when Richarlison thought he had opened the scoring.

Instead, the source of the only goal was an unexpected one, as Gray headed in Richarlison's flick from a corner for his first goal in 112 appearances for Tottenham and Leeds.

Palace dominated territory and possession after the break, but lacked the class needed in front of goal to make Spurs pay.

Justin Devenny blazed high over the bar from close range before Maxence Lacroix headed wide.

Palace was handed another reprieve when Richarlison turned in Mohammed Kudus' cross only for VAR to again intervene.

But Tottenham held out to climb to 11th, just one point behind Palace in ninth.

"That was a massive win in many ways," Frank told reporters.

"Was it a top performance? No. Are there things we can improve? Yes.

"But to come here, with the season where it's been, a little bit up and down, I think it's a huge mentality shift from the players."

Palace boss Glasner put the defeat down to a lack of ruthlessness.

"I don't blame anybody for missing the chances, but we have to accept that, right now, we have a little bit of a lack of finishing quality in the team," he told reporters.

Glasner, meanwhile, tried to reflect positively on a year in which Palace lifted its first trophy with its FA Cup triumph in May.

"It doesn't feel like it right now, but if we look back and see the whole picture, 2025 was an incredible year for Crystal Palace," he said.

'Not dancing on tables'

Earlier, Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored for a sixth consecutive Premier League game, as Leeds denied Sunderland a place in the top five with a draw at the Stadium of Light.

Simon Adingra fired the Black Cats into a halftime lead, but the in-form Calvert-Lewin leveled early in the second period to pull Leeds further clear of the relegation zone.

Sunderland is still yet to lose at home on its return to the top flight, but has been severely depleted by the departure of six players to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Adingra was one of the Cote d'Ivoire's key men in winning the AFCON on home soil last year, but he was not selected this time.

Sunderland was grateful for that decision, as the former Brighton winger curled in his first goal for the club from Granit Xhaka's fine through ball on 28 minutes.

Leeds had been the better side for large spells of the first period and started the second with a bang.

Calvert-Lewin latched onto Brenden Aaronson's low cross for his eighth goal of the season, seven of which have come in the last six games.

The former Everton striker's form has played a major role in edging Leeds toward safety and keeping his manager Daniel Farke a job.

The German was reportedly on the brink of being dismissed prior to a five-game unbeaten run that has taken Leeds seven points clear of the bottom three.

"I'm not dancing on the table tonight," said Farke. "The feeling is, if we were a bit more clinical, we could have won the game."

Sunderland missed the chance to leapfrog Manchester United and Chelsea, but sits seventh, just four points outside the top four.

AFP