Fulham end away-day blues as fast start stuns Tottenham
A Tete strike and a wonder-goal from Wilson earn a spirited 2-1 win
Don’t blink, don’t rub your eyes, Fulham have won a game away from home! A thrilling start from Fulham saw Tottenham Hotspur blown away inside six minutes in North London, as a Tete strike and a superlative Wilson goal from distance gave a statement win for Marco Silva. Given our troubles on the road, and the host’s rather hideous form at this stadium, this game might have had the colour of a stoppable force against a movable object, but a terrific temperament from the team, be it attacking flair in the first half and defensive acumen in the second, have guided Fulham to an excellent three points.
First Half
Normally, away to a “big 6” team, you expect a slow start, to ease into the game and avoid shipping an early goal to buoy the home crowd. Our approach to these fixtures has been excellent for many years under Silva though, and our host’s early dithering in possession was quickly pounced upon. Sessegnon, back on familiar ground, cruised through space in midfield before feeding it left to Chukwueze. Deftly, he wriggled past Porro and Gray, reaching a prime position in the box. His touch was poor, scuffing the ball awkwardly off his left foot and away from him. Yet its path fooled the defenders too, and as it travelled through the box, past a static Palhinha and Bergvall’s desperate outstretched foot, it reached the path of Tete, who curled his run to meet the loose ball and drove a shot goalwards. Udogie’s deflection helped it into the net, too quick for Vicario to stop it, but the point was clear - Fulham were here to take on Tottenham.
An ugly start for Thomas Frank’s men, but we didn’t care. Rampant as ever, Fulham seized the energy of the game. A free kick deep in Fulham territory was taken long by Andersen, over Tottenham’s backline and into space. Jimenez chased the ball down, ahead of a trailing Danso, and it brought Vicario storming out of his box to deal with the threat. He took it out of Jimenez’ path, and on another day might have ended the danger. Yet Raul was determined, sniffing Vicario’s nerves and bearing down on the keeper. With Wilson fast approaching the Italian scuffed the ball away - straight to King, who had also anticipated the opportunity and got to the ball ahead of a dozing Bergvall. He fed the ball to Wilson, and - in the most audacious act of our season so far - curled the ball beautifully from the sideline, behind the backline and into the empty net. If you have ever played a football game on a smartphone that involves swiping the screen to guide the ball into the net, Wilson’s effort comes very close to emulating the ease of which the shot parabolas goalwards - an utterly delectable finish, and a reminder of the man’s exuberance with a football at his feet.
It was an exhilarating, barely-believable start to the game. Certainly Tottenham were stunned, struggling for answers and drowning in their own misery. Chukwueze almost compounded it - first storming into the box following a smart backheel from Jimenez and a pass from Iwobi, before receiving the eventual corner following Vicario’s flap and drilling an effort off the left post. van de Ven, responsible for stopping Chukwueze moments earlier, made a crucial header to stop King tapping in a Sessegnon cross shortly afterwards.
We were excellent in the first half, and it was built on really astute defending. Tottenham, holding most of the possession, were never shy to cross the ball; Udogie and Porro were particularly keen to advance down the wing, but Andersen and Bassey were alert to everything that reached them, denying Tottenham a single shot on target in the half. The work of Berge reinforced the middle and forced the play out wide, where attackers were met with strong physical responses from Sess, Tete, and even Bassey meeting them head on. Their best chance of the half was arguably ours - Bassey’s mistimed header from Porro’s cross ricocheted off Andersen and almost went in for an own goal. Yet the flurry of corners this and other crosses won were dealt with by the aforementioned defensive headers, and some smart punches by Leno.
Our football was really sharp, waiting for Tottenham to edge forward, battling them off the ball and then using Jimenez’ clever hold-up play to ping the ball into the mazy dribbles of Chukwueze and King. It produced more chances we ought to have scored, but for the exceptional defensive timing of van de Ven - Jimenez was never likely to outmuscle the Dutchman in the air, beaten to a Chukwueze cross towards the end of the half, but mystifying to all was how the centre-back denied the Nigerian his own goal. A goal-kick from Leno found Jimenez, heading the ball uncontested after Danso stepped off, and Porro’s attempted touch fell nicely for Chukwueze to surge through on goal. He took the ball around a collapsing Vicario and looked set to add our third, but van de Ven swiped the ball from behind, and averted the danger - a let off for the shaken hosts.
Second Half
It was a brilliant opening half to the game, and there were plenty of reasons for Fulham to celebrate at the interval. But this is the Premier League, and for all the fun that’s been poked at Tottenham recently they are a team with a lot of talent at their disposal. Van de Ven’s tremendous efforts had kept the game competitive, and we’d ended the half in a far more defensive mode than the game had started with - perhaps the consequence of throwing so much at Tottenham in the opening minutes.
Frank clearly wanted a response from his team, because they’d found their first shot on target within minutes - Porro whipped a cross into the box, Bassey awkwardly chested it down and Muani thumped the loose ball back into the centre-back. It might not have gone in, but it achieved the dangerous goal of instilling a bit of pride into the stadium. Where Tottenham had once looked uninspired and predictable, they upped the gears and started to take the game back to us. Iwobi, who’d been comfortable at CM, started getting swamped in pressure, as Tottenham moved their pieces into our half and tried to put their foot on our neck. An errant King run into their box was stopped firmly by Danso, but it was the only air we had in Tottenham territory - we were the team in the headlights now.
It was here that the quality of Kudus started to shine. Sessegnon had done well in the first half, but with Porro more involved along the right the pair were beginning to target our left-back. A corner flew in that Leno had to punch off the line, a Gray pass to Porro saw Muani head a cross just wide and another corner following an Andersen miscue saw the ball ping around the final third and two shots require blocking from Tete. The game was too chaotic though, and we couldn’t escape the danger. A limp Wilson clearance was collected by Bergvall, who had the calm to play the ball into the unmarked Kudus on the right. A cool touch with his chest let the ball drop into his feet, and powered a volley into the roof of the net above Leno’s sprawling dive.
The score was 2-1 now, and Tottenham smelt blood. A trio of substitutes entered right after the goal - Gray and Palhinha departed along with the ineffectual Richarlison for Bentancur, Simons and Odobert. Attack was clearly the theme - more pace, more energy, and an actual winger on the left to increase the danger for Tete. It was horrible viewing, Fulham relying on their own defensive talents to dig themselves out of a number of holes. Our own Dutch defender was required to stop Muani drilling into our box with a brilliant slide tackle and moments later from a Kudus corner Jimenez headed a Bergvall header off the line. Simons at AM gave Tottenham a playmaker and his vision to feed Odobert gave Fulham constant danger right around the box.
Clearly we needed changes of our own - and thankfully, Silva read the room. King, exhausted, left for Smith-Rowe, and Lukic replaced an injured Wilson at the same time. This was critical - it put some energy in our press with fresh legs further forward, and it moved Iwobi out wide to both bolster the centre with the far more imposing Lukic. Tottenham were far from finished, of course - Muani had the ball taken off him in the box from another Porro cross and, after some skilful juggling from Kudus, Odobert headed over from yet another dangerous Porro cross - but there was at least an outlet for Fulham to relieve pressure. It’s a shame Smith-Rowe’s shooting boots weren’t on for our first real chance of the half, slicing Sessegnon’s cross well off-target.
Sarr had arrived for Bergvall, but this removed one of Tottenham’s better players on the ball for a man unseasoned to the tempo of the game. We started to create more with the ball - Chukwueze’s cross saw a comical Jimenez handball to try and reach the cross, and after the Nigerian was swapped for Kevin, a one-two with him and Smith-Rowe won a free-kick deep in enemy territory. This was vital - between the two chances, a goalmouth scramble from a Danso long throw needed Iwobi to block an Udogie shot and Muani backheel an effort wide of goal. These substitutes, and Castagne arriving later to see out the rest of the game in a back five, gave us the extra resilience to stave off Tottenham’s frenetic drive for an equaliser. Slowly, the time ticked away - Tottenham’s desperation was seized upon by Fulham, who clung to each second on the ball and ate up the remaining minutes, and after winning a late free kick we did enough to earn the win, and a fantastic three points.
A brilliant away performance
Fulham deserve a substantial amount of praise tonight. We’ve been critical - lambasting, even - of some of the results the club have had so far this season, and I don’t think it’s unfair to say we’ve been below par one-third into the league season. But given the form, the injuries and the demands placed on some of the players (who have played every game for weeks, months in some cases) there should absolutely be a celebration of the result tonight, a win away at a top club like Tottenham Hotspur (even in their sullied state).
Essentially, the unreal defending of Micky van de Ven is all that stood between Fulham and scoring four or five goals in that first half. We ripped Tottenham to pieces, without hyperbole or exaggeration. Bypassing Tottenham’s lax defensive structure was easy when they struggled to concentrate at any given moment, but it took our positive approach to realise this. Chukwueze starting was integral - he had the beating of Porro and worked seamlessly with Sessegnon, Iwobi and Jimenez to take the ball directly into Tottenham’s danger zone. On another day, he’d have scored at least one of his chances. Perhaps his luck has been taken by Wilson, who struck yet another wonder-goal today; apparently, this is the second furthest effort from goal to be scored this season! Such moments are why he starts; even when he has quiet spells, the penchant for flair so often yields goals from unlikely situations, as we saw today.
Jimenez got a goal last weekend and should be very proud of his efforts today. He puts himself into everything, even when physically outmatched by a beast like van de Ven, and was critical to putting Vicario under the pressure that produced our second and game-winning goal. Don’t sleep on the link-up play, too - it takes an intelligent man to piece together so many passes for his pacey teammates. Speaking of, King had another solid evening, and continues to play above his years in the heart of our team.
Further back, there’s also serious commendation to be had. Take away Kudus’ exceptional finish and there’s barely a foot wrong from the keeper and back four - though they were certainly under pressure, the mistakes haranguing much of the early season were eradicated, replaced with outstanding tackles and tough stature. Tete stands out here - a moment late in the game, where Castagne mistimed an interception and the Dutchman swept forward to nullify the error, typefies why he is so coveted by Fulham fans, but you could pick any one of the challenges he made to Bergvall, Udogie, Odobert, Muani, or whomever else ventured down our right today.
Andersen had a really strong game too, and his passing was exceptional - it is a form of defending in of itself to move the ball so swiftly out of our hind quarters. Bassey was much improved too - the POTY showed why he earnt that award with his gruelling battles around the pitch today. Sessegnon continues to excel at LB - perhaps a little unfoxed by Kudus and Porro at times, but never embarrassed and attuned to the demands of the game. Berge did a good job sweeping up the danger in front of them, and whilst Iwobi did wilt as the game went on Lukic taking the reins later in the game bolstered things massively, nullifying Simons’ influence in the middle. And of course, all of this is the best form of support you can give to a keeper like Leno, who didn’t let the Kudus goal unnerve him and kept concentration through the waves of Tottenham pressure.
Conundrum in North London
A brief word for Tottenham, I suppose - I like a number of their players, they looked a real threat not too long ago under Postecoglou (even last season) and much as we’re pained to admit it Thomas Frank is a very good coach. There’s something deeply wrong at the club though, because the malaise they’re in has prompted a serious slump for everyone, and it threatens to derail yet another season.
The lack of consistency with the line-up can’t be helped, of course - injuries, as we know all too well, are a menace, and can shatter even the best teams’ form. But a defence as porous and insipid as Tottenham’s will not lie unbroken, let alone reach the heights the club expect, and they were appalling in the first half. The Premier League is too competitive now to expect wins in home fixtures - whilst it is fair to argue the club didn’t focus on the league last season, clearly the results that plummeted them to 17th place has knocked the teams’ ability to put together serious winning form.
It’s strange, because individually there’s a lot of talent, and even today you saw what might have been possible. Kudus was a maestro and scored a brilliant goal, of course, but there’s a good attack to be fashioned out of Muani and Odobert’s pace, the guile of Bergvall, Richarlison’s mercurial talents. We all know at Fulham what Palhinha’s graft can do for a team, Gray seems a really promising youngster, Udogie and Porro relish any chance to get forward… in a better state of mind, you’d marry these parts and make one of the devastating teams in the league. Instead, they are staring at three defeats in a row, and another campaign they’ll need to resurrect sooner than later. Statistics as ugly as 3 home wins in 21 games, or 4 clean sheets in 42, demonstrate how tough a task this may be.
We in Fulham colours can breathe a little easier though, knowing our recovery is well under way. Two wins in a row isn’t to be sniffed at (just ask Tottenham!) and in such a competitive season putting a bit of distance between us and the bottom three should settle the nerves of fans and players alike. A busy Christmas period next month needs points on the board to prevent a lowly ranking prompting a sour mood, and the opposite - a fun festive season with exciting wins like today’s - is just as possible. Marco Silva is the man to lead this squad, as today shows once again - and who knows, maybe off the back of such a fantastic away victory we’ll finally end our losing streak against Manchester City on Tuesday?