Crystal Palace 0 Tottenham 1: Christian Eriksen keeps title heat on Chelsea

Christian Eriksen's long-range strike helped Tottenham keep their Premier League title hopes alive with a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace.

Mauricio Pochettino once claimed he knows if Spurs will play well within a minute of kick-off and the Argentine coach must have got a sinking feeling early on at Selhurst Park.

Having come up short in their FA Cup semi-final on Saturday, Spurs struggled with a Wembley hangover against Sam Allardyce's well-drilled Eagles.

But Eriksen's moment of magic was enough to shake Spurs from their slumber and cut Chelsea's lead at the top of the table to four points.

The game began at a frantic pace and the visitors were fortunate to see Joel Ward's low cross fizz across the face of goal.

Kyle Walker was immediately on the backfoot against Andros Townsend and the right back's careless pass was typical of his side's nervous start.

Hugo Lloris was the first goalkeeper called into action when he got down well to keep out Christian Benteke, who asked plenty of questions of Spurs' back three.

Pochettino responded by reshuffling into a back four with Eric Dier ushered forward into midfield as Spurs continued to struggle to find their rhythm.

Yet it gave the visitors no added security with Victor Wanyama fortunate not to receive a second yellow card for a late foul on Townsend in the closing stages of the first half.

The Croydon faithful urged Jonathan Moss to give the midfielder his marching orders, but the referee did not oblige.

Pochettino had seen enough and opted to withdraw Wanyama and Mousa Dembele at the interval in favour of Moussa Sissoko and Heung-min Son.

Yet an urgency did not emerge within Tottenham's play until the hour mark. Palace lost Mamadou Sakho to a serious knee injury, which unsettled the hosts, and the north Londoners finally began to turn the screw.

Dele Alli and Walker both fired shots wide but it was Eriksen who stepped up to the plate to provide a moment of inspiration, firing past Hennessey from distance.

Spurs have now surpassed their best ever Premier League points total - but they're still not ready to give up on a far bigger prize.