London: Toronto-bound Jermain Defoe started his Tottenham farewell by scoring as Spurs moved within one point of the Champions League spots and Crystal Palace dropped to last place in the Premier League on Saturday.
Tottenham confirmed on Friday that Defoe would leave for Toronto FC at the end of February, and the 31-year-old striker wrapped up the 2-0 win over Palace with a clinical finish in the 72nd minute at White Hart Lane.
Defoe spun away from his marker and looped a shot over Julian Speroni 15 minutes after being introduced as a substitute. Christian Eriksen opened the scoring in the 50th.
Jason Puncheon blazed a first-half penalty high and wide for Palace following a clumsy tackle by Mousa Dembele.
A win for Tottenham looked highly unlikely in the opening stages as relegation-threatened Palace began well. Speroni spilled Nabil Bentaleb's shot to cause a brief moment of panic in the away end, but the goalkeeper gathered the ball and Palace dominated the first half.
Puncheon flashed a long-range shot just wide and he was given another chance moments later from the penalty spot. Vlad Chiriches gave the ball away up the field and Palace went on the break. Chamakh entered the box and Dembele clattered into the former Arsenal man.
Referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot but Puncheon never came close with his wild attempt. The striker put his head in his hands while Palace manager Tony Pulis could barely look in the player's direction.
Kyle Naughton came on for Kyle Walker, who started limping shortly after the second half began.
The right-back made an immediate impression for Spurs, launching a long ball up to Emmanuel Adebayor, who knocked the ball to Eriksen and he fired a powerful half-volley past Speroni to put Spurs ahead.
Defoe almost scored with his first shot, which whistled past Speroni's far post, but made no mistake with his second effort.
The striker picked the ball up inside the Palace box from Aaron Lennon before bundling the ball past Speroni despite a shoulder barge from Jonathan Parr.
In other match, West Ham ended their miserable run by beating Cardiff 2-0 on Saturday to climb out of the relegation zone and hand Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a disappointing loss in his first Premier League game in charge.
Carlton Cole put West Ham ahead in the 42nd minute and the London club hung on with 10 men after James Tomkins was given a second yellow card in the 72nd before Mark Noble secured the victory on a counter attack in injury time.
The win eases the pressure on manager Sam Allardyce following a 5-0 loss to second-tier club Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup and a 6-0 drubbing against Manchester City in the first leg of their League Cup semifinal.
In a further boost, Andy Carroll made his season debut after a foot injury as he came off the bench in the 72nd and helped set up the second goal.
For Solskjaer, however, the game highlighted the challenge he faces in turning things around at Cardiff, which fell below West Ham into the relegation zone.
Fraizer Campbell, Craig Noone and Mark Hudson all failed to convert good chances for the hosts, who dominated for long stretches in the second half.
West Ham hit the woodwork inside three minutes, as Stewart Downing's cross missed everyone and cannoned out of the far post, where Tomkins' follow-up was smothered by David Marshall.
Cardiff looked the more likely to score after that and they thought they had in the 32nd minute.
Kim Bo-kyung's shot deflected off Roger Johnson, struck the bar and appeared to cross the line as it came down. But replays showed the Goal Decision System had been correct, with the ball landing on the line.
The visitors opened the scoring when Matt Taylor picked out Matt Jarvis, and the winger's weighted pass gave Cole an easy tap in.
That prompted Solskjaer to hand fit-again Craig Bellamy a first appearance since Nov. 9 in place of Peter Odemwingie. It nearly paid immediate dividends as the veteran's free kick found an unmarked Hudson, who headed over.
West Ham were pegged further back when Tomkins picked up a second booking for a foul on Campbell after earlier being cautioned needlessly for dissent.
But West Ham survived and Noble finished a sweeping break from Carroll's pass to secure the win.
Adam Johnson scored a hat trick to move Sunderland off the bottom of the Premier League with a 4-1 victory at Fulham on Saturday.
Johnson scored with a free kick in the 29th minute, grabbed a second in the 69th and converted a penalty kick five minutes from the end.
Sung-Yeung Ki also scored for the Black Cats in the 41st at Craven Cottage while Steve Sidwell got the hosts' only goal in the 52nd.
Sunderland have 17 points from 21 games and moves ahead of last-place Crystal Palace on goal difference.
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