Former Premier League striker Glen Murray says Tottenham "imploded" at the end of the first half in Thursday's demoralising home defeat by Crystal Palace.
Spurs led before Micky van de Ven's 38th-minute red card but went into the break 3-1 down.
"They are without doubt in a relegation fight," Murray told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast. "This was their game in hand and they haven't made amends.
"The penalty just swings the game completely. From that moment, Crystal Palace were really good and managed the game extremely well.
"The damage was done in stoppage time of the first half. If Spurs could just have got over the line and in at half-time at 1-1 then it's a completely different picture and you can make a gameplan. You can make yourself difficult to beat and try to get a point, but they imploded.
"All of a sudden the game is gone, the situation is worsening, fans start leaving, and things get worse and worse.
"I've never seen a Premier League ground look so empty with so long to go in a fixture.
"Let's not get carried away. It's just one loss. They haven't fallen any further down and there are huge games coming up. They need the fans to be on board, despite the situation, and the club needs to be united."
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