HOLD YOUR HORSES Schlupp and keeper Guaita earn Palace a draw

Jose’s little ponies fail to take advantage of Chelsea slip-up as

WHEN Jose Mourinho described his Spurs side as a little horse against title rivals of pedigree, most people believed he was talking pony.

Failure to see out the win here, however, suggests he had a point.

With the depth in the squad and their quality up front the north Londoners do o have what it takes to mount a challenge.

They al lowed Crystal Palace a way back here, however, on a day when the mission should have been to take advantage of Chelsea’s shock defeat at Everton.

Had Spurs been around the course and dis t a n c e perhaps they’d have had too much knowhow for the south London side.

Instead they were forced to settle for being up with the leaders as footbal l ’s Grand National marathon enters some tricky, mid-season obstacles.

It looked so straightforward when Harry Kane (below) struck in the 23rd minute.

Tottenham’s England captain appeared to have put Spurs on course for a sixth win in seven league games with a shot from 30 yards which man of the match

Vicente Guaita should have saved. The Crystal Palace keeper had pushed Sergio Reguilon’s shot over the bar shortly beforehand.

He had saved smartly, low to his left, from Tanguy Ndombele before that and he’d done well to keep out Kane’s header from Heung-min Son’s corner.

It made his failure to deny Kane even more inexplicable. It also left Spurs in a position they had been able to control on enough occasions this season to have reached the Premier League summit.

They would have stayed there too had Steven Bergwijn got to Kane’s through-ball before Guaita on the half-hour.

Instead, the lead remained a slender one and an in- form Palace side refused to give up the chance.

Roared on by Roy Hodgson’s No.2 Ray Lewington, shouting

himself hoarse in the technical area, the Eagles went hunting for the league leaders.

Eberechi Eze curled an effort wide shortly before the break, Jeffrey Schlupp scooped the ball over the bar from close range when he should have scored and Christian Benteke missed his customary chances.

First he rose highest to head the ball from Eze’s corner – only to send it over the bar. Then, a minute later, the Belgian sent the ball into the arms of Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris.

So far, so good for the 2,000 Palace fans making the d i f ference at Selhurst Park.

They were confident that an equaliser was coming – and they were right. Eze, who had hit the post beforehand, sent in a free-kick nine minutes from time, Lloris spi l led it and Schlupp ( above) was there to bundle the ball home.

Still, however, there was time for Spurs to launch one last sortie or three.

First Eric Dier forced an outstanding save from Guaita who prevented the defender’s free-kick from curling into the top corner.

Then Ben Davies hit the bar with a cross-shot which smacked the crossbar and landed at the feet of Serge Aurier.

The right-back’s cross-shot was met by Kane and his header looked certain to clinch the points – only for Guaita to react quickly and keep it out.

While Hodgson was delighted afterwards, Mourinho was philosophical.

A point still leaves his horse in a stable condition. little