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Christian Eriksen's late winner keeps Tottenham in Premier League title race

At another time, in just about any other season, this is where the wheels would have come off for Tottenham Hotspur. Here, now, is where Spurs would have stumbled, slowly and quietly fading from the Premier League title race.

In the tricky midweek away game in late April, they wouldn’t have found the winner. They would have had to settle for a 0-0 draw and convince themselves that it was somehow OK and that no damage was done. Even though everybody knew that it wasn’t and that there was.

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Or, if things had gotten even Spursier, they would have given up a late goal and lost.

But this might not be that kind of Tottenham season. This year, for once, Spurs is enjoying the late surge, rather than the signature fade down the stretch, after winning their eighth straight in a 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace thanks to Christian Eriksen’s 78th-minute goal.

Christian Eriksen
Eriksen and Spurs are still in the Premier League title hunt. (Reuters)

In this fairly special 2016-17 campaign in North London, Spurs have closed Chelsea’s 10-point gap at the top to four. And after the Blues’ simple 4-2 victory over Southampton on Tuesday, a failure to get all three points likely would have handed the Premier League title to the West Londoners.

Especially with the North London Derby coming up on Sunday, when it will be hard enough for Spurs to stay with Chelsea when they host Arsenal. With five games left to go, the margin for error is all but gone, and there’s a home game against Manchester United looming for Tottenham on May 14 as well.

Considering the way Spurs finished their league seasons with a whimper, rather than a shout, the last few seasons, undoing many months of majestic soccer with a few untimely misfires, this is about the time for them to collapse. Palace would have been just such a banana peel. The Eagles had won six of their last eight league matches to lift themselves from 19th to 12th place – more victories than they had managed in their entire season before this run.

And the 14th-minute chance for Palace striker Christian Benteke, from strong preparatory work by Andros Townsend, might have been where it all fell apart. But his finish was tame and rolled right to Hugo Lloris.

In the second half, Tottenham began a full-on offensive yet struggled to craft very many real chances. Harry Kane and Dele Alli were largely ineffective. And when the two of them don’t produce, Spurs don’t always manage to source their goals from elsewhere.

So when Kyle Walker whipped in a sharp cross before the hour that found Alli, and the two-time PFA Young Player of the Year flicked the ball just wide with his heel, failing to hit it flush, that, too, might have been the season gone down the drain.

But Eriksen brought relief. And an enormous release of pressure. Kane found him in a pocket some 30 yards from goal in the 78th minute, and the Danish midfielder, who doesn’t always dazzle with his goal-scoring prowess, spotted goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey well off his life.

So Eriksen coolly whipped a low, bouncing shot past him.

In an otherwise uneventful game – aside from a gnarly knee injury for Palace’s Mamadou Sakho – Spurs found a way. To get a goal. To get the points. To keep close to Chelsea and remain in the thick of things. To stay alive in the title race.

A way to avoid doing what Tottenham Hotspur always does. To not be so – as they say in their fans’ vernacular – Spursy.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.