Crystal Palace 2-1 Tottenham: Spurs were awful, football is awful.

Tottenham Hotspur went to Selhurst Park looking to continue their league winning streak, and, well, it didn't go so well against Crystal Palace. In new manager Alan Pardew's first match with his new club, Palace struck twice in the second half to beat Spurs 2-1 in a match that could at best be described as "controversial."

The first half started off slow. Palace looked content to put men behind the ball and park the bus against Spurs. Palace conceded a lot of possession to Spurs, but Tottenham wasn't able to do much about it. Perhaps Spurs' best chance of the match came midway through the first half after Jan Vertonghen wasn't able to direct a nice cross into the net right in front of goal. It was a tricky hit, but a definite chance that Spurs should've put away. Otherwise, the first half was turgid, slow, and dull, and it ended scoreless.

Things picked up in the second half and it started with another moment of brilliance from Harry Kane. Kane received a nice through ball from Mousa Dembele, evaded a couple of defenders, and put the ball in the corner of the net past Julian Speroni to put Spurs up by one. It was a great move and a wonderful goal scored by a striker with no shortage of confidence.

After that, things started getting chippy. Palace equalized midway through the half after referee Anthony Taylor penalized Benjamin Stambouli for a foul inside the box against Joe Ledley. Replays seemed to indicate that Stambouli got the ball clean, but the decision was given. Dwight Gale easily scored the penalty to equalize.

Things got worse for Spurs in the 80th minute after Jason Puncheon scored a nice goal to put the home side ahead. Harry Kane later was tripped in the box by Ledley in what looked like a clear penalty, but Taylor declined to make the call. The match ended 2-1.

This was a poorly officiated match on both sides of the ball, and Anthony Taylor clearly lost control of the match midway through the second half. Spurs were not good today, but probably didn't deserve to lose. But it doesn't really matter: three points dropped against a team in the relegation zone is a huge missed opportunity and Tottenham whiffed on a big chance to stay within striking distance of the top four. It was Spurs' first loss in seven matches, and this one's going to sting for a while.

On a personal level, watching Alan Pardew's smug face as he walked off the pitch was almost worse than the indignity of losing to Crystal Palace. Football is awful, and Spurs are still Spurs.