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It was high Sunday afternoon drama at Craven Cottage today, as Tottenham Hotspur came from behind to defeat Fulham 2-1 to keep their slim hopes of a title challenge alive. Relegation-threatened Fulham lead through a surprising Fernando Llorente own goal in the 17th minute, before Spurs equalised through a Dele Alli header with 51 minutes gone.
The game looked set to become Spurs’ first draw of 2018/19 as they struggled to find a way through, but with seconds remaining on the clock, a beautiful cross from substitute Georges-Kevin N’Koudou found its way to Harry Winks, who headed home to allow his side to steal away all 3 points.
The victory leaves Tottenham just 5 points behind second-place Manchester City, while Fulham are looking in deep trouble in 19th – 7 points away from safety.
Here are 3 reasons why Tottenham beat Fulham.
#1 Fulham’s defence switched off for Alli’s equaliser
Despite dominating possession from the off, Tottenham found it difficult to really carve out chances throughout the game, and when Fulham took their first-half lead, it was largely deserved. Missing the speed and penetration of Harry Kane, Lucas Moura and Heung-Min Son, it felt like Spurs simply couldn’t break through Fulham’s defence.
That’s why it was so disappointing for fans of the Cottagers that it was a series of suicidal defensive errors that allowed Dele Alli to head home the equaliser. Firstly, Tim Ream made a complete miskick when the ball fell to him, and that allowed Christian Eriksen a free cross into the box, where Alli was waiting, perfectly timed to score.
It’d be easy to lay all the blame at Ream’s door, but in hindsight while his error led directly to the cross, goalkeeper Sergio Rico could perhaps have come out to claim the cross rather than hanging back, and replays also showed that Cyrus Christie should’ve been tracking Alli and failed to do so.
Essentially, while Alli took the header excellently – reminiscent of his goal for England against Sweden in the World Cup – Fulham gifted him the chance with some seriously poor defending.
#2 Tottenham rode their luck
Up until the 93rd minute, the feeling amongst Tottenham fans must’ve been that this simply wasn’t their side’s day; they missed a number of chances, chief culprit being Fernando Llorente, and just seemed to lack their usual dynamism across the field. But in hindsight, perhaps Mauricio Pochettino’s side were far luckier than fans may have initially thought.
Firstly, with Tottenham pushing for an equaliser late in the first half, Andre Schurrle struck a right-footed volley at goal only for Hugo Lloris to pull off a tremendous save. Aleksandar Mitrovic was at hand to head the rebound home, only to be flagged offside. While the replays confirmed the Serbian hitman was off as Schurrle shot, on other days the goal could easily have been given.
And later in the game – after Tottenham had equalised – Mitrovic broke away from Jan Vertonghen and made a run on goal, only for the ball to be palmed away by Lloris as he attempted to go around the keeper. Lloris also took Mitrovic down – and could’ve conceded a penalty – but the referee judged that no foul had taken place. Again, on other days, a spot-kick could well have been awarded.
Had the referee gone the opposite way with both – or perhaps just one – of those key decisions, Fulham could easily have walked away with 3 points rather than nothing. Maybe this was Tottenham’s day after all!
#3 Spurs never gave up hope despite their thin squad
Alarm bells have been ringing for Tottenham fans since last week – when it was confirmed that Harry Kane would be out until March with an ankle injury – and those bells appeared to become louder on Friday when Mauricio Pochettino admitted he probably wouldn’t venture into the transfer market this month, and instead decided to back the players he’s already got – Dele Alli, Fernando Llorente and the unproven youngster Kazaiah Sterling – to cover for Kane’s absence.
Had this game ended 1-1 – or had Fulham scored a second goal – then the cries that Tottenham can’t survive without Kane would’ve become absolutely deafening. But even after Alli was taken off late in the second half with a hamstring injury, Spurs never gave up the hope that they could claim all 3 points. And in a way, it was telling that their winning goal not only came from an unlikely source but was created by one too.
With seconds on the clock, it was Georges-Kevin N’Koudou – barely used by Spurs since his signing in 2016 – who popped up to fire an incredible cross into the box, and it was Harry Winks – who hadn’t scored a goal since 2016 – who arrived to head the ball home for the winner. Better still, it was only what Winks deserved for a tremendous performance that saw him justifiably awarded Man of the Match by Sky.
Not only was the goal important in terms of keeping a healthy lead on Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United, but it meant even more given Tottenham’s current squad issues. The late winner showed that Pochettino’s team don’t know the meaning of giving up, and it showed that they don’t always have to rely on Harry Kane for goals – they’ve got another special Harry too – and that perhaps fringe players like N’Koudou could end up playing a bigger part than even Spurs fans could’ve imagined.
