It has not been an easy or enjoyable last few months for Tottenham Hotspur. But after their last game of an exhausting 2025, there is one small thing to cling onto.

One game from the halfway point of the season, Spurs are top of the away league table. This was their fifth away league win under Thomas Frank. With two other away draws, that puts them on 17 points from nine away games, with a better goal difference than Aston Villa, and more goals scored than Arsenal.

No, there is no trophy for this, and Spurs still have 10 away league games left this season. But it is a reminder that for all the sluggish, ponderous performances so far, and all the understandable frustration from the crowd, there are at least some areas where Frank’s Spurs are making clear measurable progress.

This win over Crystal Palace was a case in point.

The 2022 World Cup final it was not. This was an ugly slog between two tired teams, neither of them showing much desire to get on the ball or do anything much with it. Palace largely just wanted to hit Spurs on the break. Tottenham wanted to sit in, wait, go long and then hope to make the most of a set-piece or a counter. The ball spent so much time in the clouds it came down with frost on it. If you were looking for quality, style, imagination, creativity or excitement, then you came to the wrong place.

And yet, for the fifth time on the road this season, Frank’s plan worked. After a few early scares, Tottenham shut down Palace’s transitions. When they moved the ball forward quickly, they caused problems. And they took the lead from a set piece: Pedro Porro hit a deep corner, Randal Kolo Muani won the first header, Richarlison the second, and then Archie Gray nodded the third header in.

Victory over Brentford was Tottenham’s fifth away league win under Thomas Frank (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)

Once Tottenham had the lead, they were happy to play out time and wait for opportunities on the break. Richarlison had a second disallowed for a narrow offside call, having had the same experience in the first half. Wilson Odobert, who gave Spurs exactly what they needed when he came on, hit the post from the edge of the box. On another day — as Frank said afterwards — they could have scored four.

Some wins this narrow can be ascribed to luck, and certainly Spurs rode theirs. Palace had enough chances in the second half to equalise or even win the game. And yet you could not say that this win was entirely random. In fact, it was a continuation of a pattern we have seen from Spurs under Frank, whether you like watching it or not.

When Tottenham went to West Ham in September, there was little in the game until Pape Matar Sarr headed in a Xavi Simons corner. Spurs then picked West Ham off and won 3-0. When they went to Everton in October, Mickey van de Ven opened the scoring from a Mohammed Kudus corner that Rodrigo Bentancur headed back across goal. Spurs won that game 3-0 too.