Victor Wanyama marked his home debut with a late winner as Tottenham Hotspur defeated Crystal Palace 1-0 at White Hart Lane on Saturday afternoon.
The summer signing from Southampton nodded home from close range seven minutes from time to get Spurs off the mark with their first win of the new campaign.
For Palace it is now two defeats on the spin, and one win from 21 attempts this calendar year in the Premier League, as some poor defending cost them dearly in North London.
Spurs had by far the better of the first-half chances, but it was Palace who got away the first on-target attempt of the afternoon when Wilfried Zaha laid the ball off for Jason Puncheon to blast down the middle.
Toby Alderweireld somehow squandered the best opportunity of the half to put the hosts ahead soon after, heading the ball right at Wayne Hennessey when picked out unmarked from a corner inside the six-yard box.
The Lilywhites were beginning to see more and more of the ball as the contest wore on, with eventual matchwinner Wanyama enjoying himself in midfield as he won a corner which in turn was turned over the bar from a promising position by the Kenyan.
Hennessey was proving to be in inspired form when called upon however, keeping out a Kane attempt for a second time on the half-hour mark, before getting up to produce a fine double-stop to prevent Vincent Janssen getting off the mark.
When Palace did venture forward there was a disjointed feel to their attacks - Andros Townsend twice failing to convert from long-range shots, while Connor Wickham was left badly isolated up top.
Kane was to come close one final time on the brink of the interval, blasting narrowly wide from the edge of the box after being picked out by Erik Lamela, who was looking to continue his solid run of form from the end of last season.
Palace did up things in the early stages of the second period, boosted by the introduction of Yohan Cabaye at the break, yet it was Spurs who continued creating the chances as Harry Kane sent a diving header narrowly wide.
The visitors' best opening fell the way of Cabaye, who failed to make the desired contact when himself picked out unmarked inside the box to send his shot into the stands.
Spurs were failing to create too many clear-cut openings, but that changed 20 minutes from time when Dele Alli - on the field for just 60 seconds - sent Janssen clean through on goal, only for the Dutchman to miscue his attempt and fail to even test Hennessey.
As the minutes ticked down Tottenham continued to press for a winner, coming close through a dipping Alli effort before Wanyama finally got the key breakthrough goal.
Seconds after Palace were forced into taking off the injured Damien Delaney, Kane nodded a header towards goal for Wanyama to help past a helpless Hennessey to win the points for Spurs.
Daniel Lewis
