Match Report
Tottenham Hotspur (1) 2-1 (0) Fulham
Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham
Premier League Match Day 06 2223 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
Saturday 3rd September 2022 KO: 15:00
Referee:
Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire)
|
Tottenham survived a nervy finale to beat Fulham 2-1 and continue their unbeaten start to the season.
Harry Kane's close-range goal from Ryan Sessegnon's cross (75) appeared to have made the game safe for the dominant hosts following Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's first-half opener (40) at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
But Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic set up a tense climax when he controlled a long pass from Kenny Tete and curled a sumptuous finish past Hugo Lloris (83) for his sixth goal of the season.
The Serb had barely threatened until then but Spurs were almost punished for missing a succession of earlier chances when his deflected strike in the penultimate minute of normal time forced an outstanding save from Lloris.
Spurs thought they had finally wrapped up the win when Richarlison put the ball in the net from close range moments later, but VAR ruled him offside in the build-up, meaning the hosts were made to sweat for a little longer for a victory which moved them up to second place in the Premier League table.
Tottenham enjoyed near-total dominance from the outset, creating a glut of early chances and seeing the first of two goals ruled out when Heung-Min Son's diagonal cross flew into the net with Kane in an offside position as he attempted to flick it on.
| Match Stats |
Tottenham |
Fulham |
| Goals |
(1) 2 |
1 (0) |
|
| Scorers |
Hojbjerg 40 |
Mitrovic 83 |
| Scorers |
Kane 75 |
- |
|
| Goal attempts |
23 |
9 |
| On target |
10 |
3 |
| Shooting Accuracy |
44% |
33% |
| Possession |
52% |
48% |
| Passes |
468 |
430 |
| Passes Success |
88% |
86% |
| Crosses |
21 |
21 |
| Crosses Success |
33% |
10% |
| Corners |
10 |
3 |
| Tackles |
19 |
18 |
| Tackles Success |
47% |
61% |
| Saves |
2 |
8 |
| Fouls |
9 |
6 |
| Offsides |
3 |
0 |
| Yellows |
3 |
4 |
| Reds |
0 |
0 |
| source: SkySports |
Richarlison, a menace throughout on his first Spurs start, then created another opportunity for Son after nutmegging Tosin Adarabioyo and cutting the ball back for him, but the South Korean's effort took a deflection and flew over the bar.
Fulham then needed a last-ditch tackle from Adarabioyo on Kane to avoid falling behind following more good work from Richarlison, with Son then striking the underside of the bar from Kane's deft ball over the top, but the breakthrough came soon after that.
Hojbjerg exchanged passes with Richarlison as he entered the Fulham box and, despite being surrounded by defenders, the Dane managed to stroke a low finish past Bernd Leno for his second goal of the campaign.
Spurs picked up where they left off in the second half but continued to spurn chances, with Eric Dier missing perhaps their best opportunity when he fired over from Richarlison's cross when unmarked.
Ryan Sessegnon was then denied by Leno as the hosts continued to carve Fulham open but the Spurs wing-back was the architect of the second goal when it finally arrived, his low cross steered home by Kane for his 188th Premier League goal, putting him clear of Andrew Cole in third place in the all-time scoring charts.
Richarlison struck the inside of the post as Spurs pushed for a third but Mitrovic's brilliant strike came moments later and Spurs were indebted to Lloris for keeping him from scoring a second when he acrobatically tipped his effort over the bar.
Richarlison was denied a goal his performance merited by a VAR check in stoppage time but it mattered little in the end. Fulham could not muster any more chances and the home fans were soon celebrating a fourth win from six games.
Spurs boss Antonio Conte:
"For sure, I liked the performance. If I have to find a situation that we need to improve, it is to be clinical because when you create so many chances, you have to score. We scored, but the goals were disallowed and we hit the bar.
"I loved to see my players play the ball with personality and to see the three strikers working very hard for the team with the ball and without the ball. They give us a lot of quality and a lot of danger for the opponent.
"When I see this type of performance from my players, [Heung-Min] Son included, I'm not worried, I know that these strikers are going to score many goals.
"It's important to have great enthusiasm and to be excited for the team but at the same time, I have to be realistic.
"Don't forget last November the situation was really problematic because we lost 3-0 at home against United and then the club decided to make a different decision [sacking Nuno Espirito Santo and appointing him].
"If someone thinks that we cancelled everything and we are at the same level of the other top teams, I think this is not realistic. If I want to tell you a lie, I can tell you a lie, but I like to tell the truth.
"I am the first to say that we have to play this season with ambition, to be competitive but we finished the last season with 20 points less than City and Liverpool.
"Now I think we are doing good things, but it's really soon to give a realistic judgement in my opinion. It doesn't mean we won't be ambitious and fight for something, but I have a bit of experience to tell you that we need time and patience."
Fulham head coach Marco Silva:
"Definitely wasn't our best performance at all. I think we didn't get our standards most of the time.
"Our first half was not good enough. We knew the way they come to pressure us, but we were not good enough on the ball. We gave it away so easily. We took so many wrong decisions. We were not dynamic enough to create problems.
"The second half, I saw much more courage from our team. We tried until the end. There was a very good chance for Mitro to equalise but I have to be honest, Tottenham deserved the three points."
Fulham will face another London derby next weekend, when neighbours Chelsea travel to Craven Cottage for a 12.30pm kick off on Saturday September 10.
Marco Silva will then take his side north to face another newly-promoted club in Nottingham Forest on Friday September 16, with kick off at 8pm.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Lenglet, Romero, Dier, Hojbjerg, Sessegnon, Bentancur, Royal, Richarlison, Kane (Kulusevski 78), Son Heung-Min (Perisic 84)
Unused substitutes: Davies, Sanchez, Tanganga, Skipp, Forster, Bissouma, Doherty
Goals:
Kane, 75(Sessegnon lays it across for Kane but it's very tight It might have been a scrappy goal but it's a landmark one for Kane as he moves clear in third place on the list of all-time PL goalscorers.)
Hojbjerg, 40(Hojbjerg finds Richarlison in the Fulham box and continues his run, collecting the Brazilian's return pass and sending a low, side-footed finish into the corner for his second goal of the season!
FPL assist: Richarlison)
Booked: Romero (28,f), Bentancur (69,f), Richarlison (90+1,ex-cel)
Fulham: Leno, Tosin, Tete, Robinson (Mbabu 29), Ream, De Cordova-Reid (James 60), Reed, Palhinha (VinÃcius 85), Pereira (Cairney 61), Kebano (Willian 60), Mitrovic
Unused substitutes: Rodak, Duffy, Diop, Chalobah
Goals:
Mitrovic, 83 (What a lovely goal from Fulham's main man! He creates some space by cutting inside Romero and bends one past Lloris into the top corner.)
Booked: Mitrovic (86,f), Palhinha (63,f), De Cordova-Reid (55,f), Tete (36,tw),
Referee:
Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire)
Attendance: 61641