Ange Postecoglou was pleased Premier League leaders Tottenham passed their latest exam with a hard-fought 2-1 win at Crystal Palace and was in no mood to stop fans dreaming of a title challenge. Spurs moved five points clear at the summit after they recovered from a sluggish first half at Selhurst Park to score twice in 13 second-half minutes. An own-goal from Joel Ward broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute when he deflected James Maddison’s cross beyond Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone and it was 2-0 soon after when Tottenham captain Son Heung-min steered home after Brennan Johnson’s assist. Jordan Ayew reduced the deficit for Palace in the fourth minute of stoppage-time, but Spurs held on to extend their unbeaten top-flight run to 10 matches and move five clear of Manchester City and Arsenal, who play Manchester United and Sheffield United respectively across the weekend. “Let them dream. That’s what being a football supporter is all about. It’s fair to say this lot have suffered a fair bit, so I’m certainly not going to dampen that,” Postecoglou said. “Top of the table is great and the results are great but it’s more in the manner we’re doing it. Pretty much from the first game we’ve had all sorts of different challenges we’ve had to overcome. “Every time there has been a real focus and clear-headedness about the group collectively to deal with that. We prep them for their exam at the weekend, but we don't know what the questions are going to be. They've got to work them out themselves Ange Postecoglou “That has been a really pleasing thing and because they’re getting rewards from that, then that gives us the opportunity to accelerate the growth of giving them more tools out there to help them for whatever we need to overcome. “I thought tonight was going to be a real difficult game for us. Coming here, Palace’s result last week, it’s a tight ground, they’d only conceded three goals in the four games so far and how were the lads going to cope with the fact we weren’t going to create as many chances as we had been? “I really liked the way we worked through that as a group.” After returning to the Premier League summit with a 2-0 win over Fulham on Monday, Spurs struggled in the first half at Selhurst Park and were indebted to fine early saves from Guglielmo Vicario to deny Ayew and Odsonne Edouard. Postecoglou, who had lambasted his side for their second-half showing earlier in the week, introduced Emerson Royal for Ben Davies at the break and watched Ward put into his own net from Maddison’s cross to open the scoring. It was 2-0 when Son fired home for his eighth goal of the campaign following Johnson’s smart pass, his first assist since a £45million deadline-day transfer from Nottingham Forest. While Ayew managed to reduce the deficit – in the fourth minute of stoppage time after a lengthy VAR check – Tottenham stood firm to claim a fourth-straight win and show another side with a dogged defensively display, despite enjoying more than 70 per cent possession. Postecoglou added: “I have always felt that matchdays are about the players. What we try to do on a daily basis is give them the tools to find the solutions. “We prep them for their exam at the weekend, but we don’t know what the questions are going to be. They’ve got to work them out themselves. “In an exam you are not asking anybody for help. You have to work it out yourself and hopefully what we’ve given them is the tools.” Palace boss Roy Hodgson was disappointed to suffer a second-consecutive defeat and admitted his substitutes weakened his team. “I thought it was an aggressive and quite-controlled first half from our side, but of course the first goal then produces a second,” he said. “That is when we start putting players on the field, players who have not really played with the first team, Jes (Rak-Sakyi), (Naouirou) Ahamada, (Matheus) Franca and we lost the intensity we were able to do in the first half. “In the end it became easy for them (Tottenham) to see the game through.” Read More Kyle Walker says Manchester City will be wary of Marcus Rashford in derby Wolves v Chelsea on Christmas Eve means ‘unhappy wife’ for Mauricio Pochettino Tyson Fury: Ngannou fight like Djokovic facing table tennis player at Wimbledon Matthew Mott wary of ‘raging favourites’ as England look to avoid further shame Pep Guardiola condemns Man City fans who sang offensive Sir Bobby Charlton chant Mikel Arteta calls for increased squad sizes as Arsenal suffer fresh injury blow

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Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan dedicated his side’s incredible play-off win over Peterborough to boss Darren Moore. Wednesday beat Posh on penalties on a breathtaking night at Hillsborough, recovering from a 4-0 first-leg deficit to draw 5-5 on aggregate after extra-time before their spot-kick success. In the wake of Friday’s 4-0 loss at London Road, Moore was the subject of a racist social media post from a Wednesday fan which the club described as “repulsive”. The supporter was banned for life by the Owls and, after Thursday night’s Sky Bet League One semi-final drama, Bannan paid tribute to his manager who he praised for not only handling the incident, but for making his players believe they could turn their situation around. “What he’s done in the last week has been unbelievable, to turn around the mindset of the players, he had a massive job to do to try,” he told Sky Sports. “I’m so proud of him, the way that he’s handled this week after the racism he’s received as well – that shouldn’t be anywhere near the football, never mind a manager who’s won 96 points as well. That one’s for him.” Bannan’s words to the camera were also echoed in a candid dressing-room video shared by the club in which, after Moore praised the players, Bannan stepped forward to thank the manager on behalf of the club. Speaking on Thursday after the incredible 120 minutes of action, Moore called it the best night of his managerial career. “For me, it’s my best moment in terms of management,” said Moore, whose side will face either Barnsley or Bolton in the final at Wembley on May 29. “To witness it and for it to come here, I couldn’t have wished for it to be at a better place, under the lights here at Hillsborough. “Tonight will be special, but as I keep saying to them, we have got another game to go. We enjoy tonight and then focus on the Wembley game now. “We had a rallying call to get the fans to come out and be in full voice and they were tonight. When the boys were cramping up tonight, the fans kept them going. The boys showed great character.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live On This Day in 2012 – Chelsea beat Bayern Munich to claim first Champions League David Moyes concerned for family after trouble mars West Ham victory Eddie Howe says Newcastle win ‘huge’ but warns still work to do in top-four hunt

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