Heung-Min Son’s third goal of the season secured a fifth Premier League win in six and cemented Tottenham’s place in the top four ahead of the international break.
The South Korean curled home a shot from the edge of the box after both Danny Rose and Moussa Sissoko’s efforts had been blocked inside the penalty area.
The goal put a stop to growing confidence among the Palace side after an error from Serge Aurier and third-choice Spurs keeper Paulo Gazzaniga almost gifted them the lead.
Aurier lost possession in midfield and Wilfried Zaha – a transfer target for Tottenham last year – rounded Gazzaniga after the summer signing hesitated, but fired wide of an open goal.
Gazzaniga was thrust into his first appearance since joining from Southampton because of injuries to both Hugo Lloris (groin) and his deputy Michel Vorm (knee), who has only started eight Premier League games himself in over three years at the club.
Gazzaniga mistimed a catch in the opening moments and ended up clattering Mamadou Sakho, but made a number of good saves throughout the match to keep the struggling away side at bay.
The 25-year-old stopped a Scott Dann header after Harry Kane’s 10th-minute effort tested the hands of Julian Speroni at the opposite end – and proved to be Spurs’ only effort on target in a frustrating first half.
After the break, Gazzaniga dived low to push wide Andros Townsend’s shot on the counter-attack and stopped Luka Milivojevic’s header at the far post before his mix-up just outside the box almost proved disastrous.
Spurs were also without the injured Dele Alli but Son was another lively partner for Kane and he found the winner on 64 minutes before hitting the side netting from an acute angle with another attempt late on.
Tottenham (5-3-2): Gazzaniga; Aurier, Sanchez, Dier, Vertonghen, Rose (Davies 90+2); Winks (Dembele 46), Sissoko, Eriksen; Son, Kane (Llorente 77).
Subs not used: Whiteman, Foyth, Tripper, Nkoudou, Llorente.
This post was last modified on 05/11/2017