
Spurs fans were plied with flags and asked to get to their seats early ahead of the 15-minute performance and it produced a stunning visual effect.
The Eagles were well organised and resolute and restricted Spurs to few chances in a goalless first half at the newly-built Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
"When I took over the club (in 2001), Tottenham was not a club that was a regular European challenger", Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said Tuesday.
"I can understand why there has been so much hype around it - they must be extremely proud to have created a stadium like this for their team to perform in".
Spurs remain sixth in the Premier League's revenue table behind Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal, but the gap to their north London rivals was just £22m last season.
"It has obviously been a great evening for them but we certainly played our part; no surrender and didn't make life easy for them". "Yes there was a deflection, but I am happy to be the first player to score at this wonderful stadium".
The club have nonetheless awarded new contracts to the likes of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and manager Mauricio Pochettino, amid their overall wage bill coming in nearly £100m lower than local rivals Arsenal for the 2017/18 campaign - £147m to £240m. With the training ground and stadium they are big.
"This type of moment you are going to keep in your mind, your memories, your heart".
Townsend is a boyhood Spurs fan and tonight's fixture will be the first competitive Premier League match played at Spurs' new £1bn stadium.
Before the match began, an opening ceremony prolonged kick-off with an array of fireworks helping to launch the stadium. It takes only 25 minutes to turnaround the playing surface to National Football League stipulations, a key consideration with White Hart Lane signing a deal to host National Football League games in the United Kingdom over the foreseeable future.