Fulham (Home) 13.01.2021

Tottenham’s inability to kill games off came back to haunt them once more, with Fulham claiming a point with a second half performance that outshone Spurs, with the draws likely to kill off any chance of a challenge at the very top of the table.

Mourinho shuffled his pack with only Moussa Sissoko remaining from the side that played at Marine on Sunday and Fulham arrived off the back of missing matches because of positive Covid-19 tests in the club.  It was a return to Tottenham for Scott Parker and if ever there might be a Spurs manager of the future, it is likely to be him.  His performance in shaping and encouraging his side will have impressed the watching hierarchy for when the moment comes to appoint a new boss.

The visitors pushed forward from the kick-off and a free-kick dropped to Adarabioyo came in at the far post onto Mitrovic’s flick on, but the ball hit him and trickled through to Hugo Lloris, when a more positive approach to the ball might have brought bigger rewards. It was a quick free-kick by Spurs in the seventh minute that almost brought a goal. It was worked out to Aurier on the right and he pulled the ball back low to Reguilon, who had come onto it at the far post and his shot was blocked and when the ball bounced back to him, he fired it over the bar.

When Aurier lost the ball halfway inside the Fulham half, Antonee Robinson made good ground and the ball came to Mitrovic, who tried his luck from 25 yards, but only hit Sergio with his effort.  Dier slid the ball off Tete for a corner and went down holding his knee or thigh, which looked as
though it would force him off, but he carried on. From the corner, the ball came to Anguissa and he cut in from inside the right-hand side of the box and struck a shot that Hugo punched away well with 15 minutes on the clock. Kane was nearly in and then a great piece of skill from Ndombele took the ball past a defender and released Serge, who put in a low cross that Son got on the end of and touched goal-wards, forcing Areola into a reflex save. When the ball was retrieved by Tottenham, Ndombele was blocked off as he showed skill again and Anguissa got booked for stopping the free-kick being taken quickly. Dier was fit enough to step up and take the dead-ball but hit the top of the wall with it.

Tanguy was enjoying himself and curled a little cross in for Son to head at goal and from about five yards out, Areola did well to turn it wide for a corner. When that was cleared, Spurs went on the attack again and the ball was played diagonally from Hojbjerg to Reguilon, who took one touch and then put in a perfect cross for Harry Kane to throw himself at it, heading it in off the bottom of Areola’s left post. It was a goal that had class written all over it and the header gave the keeper no chance of saving this one.

Ndombele was left limping after a late hit when he had released the ball. He recovered and played a fine pass inside the left back for Aurier to drive in a cross that found Kane on the six-yard line, but on this occasion he surprisingly put it over the bar. That was on the half hour and four minutes later, Loftus-Cheek ran through midfield and spread the ball right to Tete. His cross found the former Chelsea man in the middle of the box 15 yards out and he tried to hit a volley as he fell and didn’t make a great contact but managed to squeeze his shot just past Hugo’s goal to his right.

Five minutes from half-time, Tottenham broke forward and Son took a defender away with him, allowing Kane to find Hojbjerg running free towards the edge of the box. Unfortunately, he didn’t get his body shape right and the shot was less than firm and straight at Areola, when he should have picked out a corner at the very least.

Andersen didn’t seem to be that happy and took Winks out with a shoulder well off the ball. Ill-discipline like that could well cost Fulham in the long run, if not in individual matches and Decordova-Reid pulled Reguilon back after being beaten for pace as he looked to go through on goal. Reed then made about his fifth foul in the first half on Ndombele and only got a talking to by the referee shortly before the whistle went for half-time.

Tottenham had been enjoying the space on the flanks and the crosses were causing Fulham problems, so it was expected that might continue in the second 45.  Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

There was a feisty start to the second half, with Loftus-Cheek getting a ball across goal despite Tottenham kicking off, but it was behind Decordova-Reid and from that Tottenham broke forward with a great run down the right by Sissoko that took him from the halfway line into the box. He jinked inside and only a well-timed challenge by Tosin prevented him getting a shot on goal. The ball fell for Kane, but his dink into the goalmouth was taken by the goalkeeper. Again, the ball was moved to the other end of the pitch and a Decordova-Reid flick on over Reguilon left Tete free in the box. A rush of blood saw him go for goal, but only hit the back of the side-netting, when a ball across goal might have been the preferred option by his team-mates.

Areola did well to punch a Son corner away, but Winks almost returned it with interest, as he bent a 20 yard shot that the keeper had to push around his left-hand post on the dive.  From around the 65th minute, Fulham enjoyed some occupation in the Spurs half and Sissoko produced a great block as Lookman found some space in the left side of the box. In the 70th minute, Ndombele picked up the ball when Aina slipped in the centre circle and he passed to his left in front of Heung-Min Son to run at goal and from just inside the box, his shot beat Areola, but it came back
out off the base of the goalpost.

Fulham broke down their left wing and Sanchez couldn’t cut out his cross, which was powerfully headed home by Cavaleiro from ten yards out. The pattern of play had mainly been towards Hugo Lloris’ goal and Spurs now had to respond to the equaliser.  Fulham almost went ahead soon after the goal when Lookman ran at the Spurs back four and put the ball through to Loftus-Cheek, but Hugo was out to him to block his shot. With a couple of minutes left, Aurier made a very good block to take all the pace out of Robinson’s low drive and they could have made more of possession when Aboubakar Kamara had Lookman free in the middle but tried to take Sanchez on one more time. With a minute left, Reguilon had the ball in the net, but Son had been offside.

The lack of the killer instinct which was evident earlier in the season seems to be costing us points at the moment and while Fulham were well worth their point, they shouldn’t have been in a position to be even thinking about getting anything out of the game by half-time.  The lack of tempo from Spurs in the second half may have been restricted by the way Parker re-arranged his side and his substitutions had a real effect on the way they went forward and Fulham had enough good chances to make the result even worse for Tottenham.

A point is a point, but you wonder how other top sides would have relented and the good first half was a distant memory by the end.  From the shocking penalty given against Dier for handball against Newcastle which wouldn’t be considered now through the 3-0 lead thrown away against West Ham, the lose of two points at Palace, at Wolves and again here, those points could have put us in a real title pursuit.  We can’t afford to drop many more points, even just to attain a Champions League place and that starts on Sunday at Sheffield United.

Ainderby Quernow

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