Marco Silva bemoaned Fulham’s ‘sloppy’ first half after Tottenham continued their unbeaten Premier League start with a 2-1 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium thanks to goals from Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Harry Kane. The Whites struggled to make much of an impression until the last ten minutes when a magnificent curling effort from Aleksandar Mitrovic – the Serbian’s sixth goal in as many matches this season – raised hopes of an unlikely fightback. Fulham couldn’t find an equaliser and the lively Richarlison was unfortunate to see a late goal ruled out by VAR on his first Spurs start in stoppage time.
The hosts utterly dominated the first half, although Fulham forged the first chance with Ryan Sessegnon arriving in the nick of time to deny Bobby Decordova-Reid a shot on goal after excellent hold up play from Mitrovic. Berno Leno, brilliant throughout, produced a excellent diving save to deny Kane and Kenny Tete’s superb defending prevented Richarlison opening the scoring at the back post. When Tottenham did have the ball in the net, it was ruled out for offside against Kane in the build up.
Tim Ream then did brilliantly to block a Son strike after Richarlison had picked out the South Korean with a lovely low ball and Son – still seeking his first goal of the season – was then denied by the crossbar from close range after he had latched onto a clever Kane chip. Just as it looked as if the visitors might make it to half time unscathed, Tottenham took the lead on 40 minutes. Højbjerg played a one-two at pace with Richarlison and then placed his finish calmly past Leno.
Spurs started strongly once again after the restart. Kane teed up Richarlison, whose shot was well held by Leno. The Brazilian, buzzing around brightly, then picked out Eric Dier but the England international drove disappointingly over. The ex-Everton forward perhaps might have done better than shoot straight at Leno when space opened up for him inside the penalty area. Fulham threatened sporadically with Hugo Lloris forced into his first save after a Mitrovic effort was deflected towards the far corner.
Leno then made a superb save to prevent Sessegnon from scoring against his former club – somehow stretching to tip the left wing back’s low shot past the far post. Silva, who had earlier been forced to send on Kevin Mbabu in place of the injured Antonee Robinson, introduced Willian and Dan James for their Fulham debuts alongside Tom Cairney. The on-loan Leeds winger almost made an immediate impact with a fine cross that found Mitrovic, but the in-form forward couldn’t head home. Spurs still kept up the pressure with Leno doing well again to save a Son strike despite a significant deflection.
The second that the home fans craved arrived with fifteen minutes to play, despite a lengthy VAR check for offside. A slick move saw Son and Sessegnon combine effectively before Kane pounced from close range to score his 188th Premier League goal to move ahead of Andrew Cole in the all-time standings. But Fulham were far from finished. They continued to push forward and Tete’s clever ball located Mitrovic in a bit of space. The Serbian moved inside the area on his right foot and curled a great finish around Lloris to make for a nervy last few minutes.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (3-4-3): Lloris; Romero, Lenglet, Dier; Emerson Royal, Sessegnon, Højbjerg, Bentancur; Richarlison, Son Heung-Min (Perisic 84), Kane (Kulusevski 78). Subs (not used): Forster, Davies, Sanchez, Tanganga, Skipp, Doherty, Bissouma.
BOOKED: Romero, Bentancur, Richarlison.
GOALS: Højbjerg (40), Kane (75).
FULHAM (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, A. Robinson (Mbabu 29), Adarabioyo, Ream; Palhinha (Vinicius 85), Reed; Kebano (Willian 60), Decordova-Reid (James 60), Pereira (Cairney 61); Mitrovic. Subs (not used): Rodak, Duffy, Diop, Chalobah.
BOOKED: Tete, Decordova-Reid, Palhinha, Mitrovic.
GOAL: Mitrovic (82).
REFEREE: Stuart Attwell (Nuneaton).
ATTENDANCE: 61,641.
So we may never have got anything from this game anyway but to me yesterday just proved how desperate we were to get the signings we have. Our start which has exceeded all our expectations has covered up how thread bare our squad was at the start of the season. When Robinson went off we just proved how you must have 2 players per position at this level. As much as I feel sorry for Mbabu playing on the wrong side he was utterly out of his depth. I’m not sure his left foot works. The first goal was a mistake. OK they can happen but every time he was played in down the left he had no ability to cross the ball and came back on his right. He was so 1 footed it was embarassing for a professional footballer. We needed more depth on the bench which we now have.
The good news is we now have the players through the door to add cover. Silva needs to work his magic on them and get them ready. The core and spine of our team is strong but we need more quality wide to get the ball in for Mitro. BDR works hard but simply lacks the pace to play as a winger at this level.
So the future is bright. We eventually have the squad we needed. There’s no reason we can’t get something from the Chelsea game COYW
PS Scott Parker thought Cav was a better option as centre forward than Mitro. I sometimes still have to remind myself that somebody involved in football could be so utterly incompetent.
I admit my football knowledge is not great BUT can anybody see the benefit of Diop? His contribution yesterday was pathetic apart from assisting Kane to score what does Marco see in him? Somebody please tell /show me where I am wrong.
Robinson has been at a standard this season which was way beyond our expectations. When he went off injurued (how long will he be out), That side was utterly vulnerable as Mbabu was completely out of his depth playing on the wrong side for him. Also I thought we should have brought either James or Willian on at half time as we were giving our star man Mitro no service. Bobby Decova Reed is no winger, but a really good squad player with a massive work rate and can play in numerous positions if needed.On the plus side Leno was brilliant Ream continues to confound me and continues to put in great performances. Mitro is our main man and we would be lost without him, no one else can seem to score. Hopefully with the late additions in the transfer window it will give us more options. To be fair if I had been offered a 2-1 defeat away at both Arsenal and Spurs at the beginning of the season it would have been a good result.
Agree with above comments!
Mbabu was not well yesterday but he’s playing on the wrong side for him, so let’s give him some more opportunities on the right now that we’ve got Kurzawa to replace Robinson.
Leno excellent, he’s showing why we paid for him.
Ream mixed feelings, he’s surprising by his level at this stage, but I don’t feel 100% comfortable with his lack of speed. Maybe that’s also because Tosin WAS BAD, and it’s at least his 2nd negative game lately, so maybe Silva is time to start thinking in subs and create competition into the squad? Diop and Duffy deserve their chances too.
As explained by people before me BDR, and I’d add Kebano, are asking for a change time, now we have good pieces there as Willian and James, so we should start rotating the team to find the right piece, we can’t play the same team every game for 75 minutes. Thanks to last days of market now we have a bench with lots of possibilities, so Silva must learn how to use those 11+5 players every game to keep the pressure and pace for 90 minutes and the healthy competitivity into the squad.
Yesterday was not our best day but we still managed to end with a 2-1 and with possibilities for a draw, so I’m extremely happy for this start of the season and for the lads’ work. I think I (we) can recognize that we’re performing over my (our) expectations, so keep fighting Fulham….
COYW!!!!
Diop’s only contribution yesterday was sitting on the bench. Ridiculous. Get rid.
Decordova Reid isn’t a winger. He isn’t a striker. He isn’t a midfielder. He isn’t a Premiership player.
We have (just about) managed to get away with playing him at the Cottage but, away from home, he is a liability. Yesterday, Marco Silva was apoplectic at his poor distribution and the number of times he got caught in possession.
At best, he is a hard grafter and worth having on the bench but, at this level, we need better. That’s just the reality of life in the Premiership. Most fans probably know this but, for some reason, they pussy foot around “Bobby’s” deficiencies.
Thankfully, we have a real wide player in James to come in now and I fully expect him to start against Chelsea.
Not that BDR is the only one, unfortunately, but, in Kebano, at the very least, we know that he has the skill to do something at home but, away from the Cottage, he needs to really up his game or he, too, will be out.
Yesterday, these two were playing for their spots but you would never have guessed it. Every time they lost possession, they put Spurs on the front foot and put us on the defensive. We can’t afford passengers.
Mbabu, I agree 100% with Dave. He is an International fullback yet looked as though he had never kicked a ball with his left foot before. His coming on for Robinson was the turning point-just when we looked likely to go into the interval all square.
It looked as though Silva was bringing on Diop to play at left back but changed his mind. Sorry Zippa, but you mistook Diop for somebody else. If Robinson’s injury is serious, I would imagine that Kurzawa will be the subject of some intensive training this coming week.
There are lots of positives to take from this game: I can’t remember a single occasion when Kenny Tete was beaten in a one on one. He was excellent although somewhat lacking in going forward. Leno showed, yet again, that there are levels to everything. As decent a keeper as Rodak is, Leno is just that much better. Great signing.
Palhinha almost made it through 90 minutes without getting another yellow but, stuffed up late on and lost possession, forcing him to stamp on Kane. As great a signing as he is, he needs to impose himself more in away games.
I think we are more than capable of giving Chelsea a real run for their money.
First lets look at the positives. A 2-1 defeat away at Tottenham is not a bad result. Leno was magnificent, what more can we say about Mitro, Ream, even, with his lack of pace looks our best central defender and Tete had a good match. Also at long last we have some options on the bench. Now the negatives. Mbabu looked completely at sea at left back. Anyone with a left foot would have been better playing there. Diop is some far total waste of space. He cannot mark at corners or set pieces and he could possibly have stopped Kane scoring . West Ham must be rubbing there hands with glee as the got a lot of money from us. For me I would much prefer Duffy be used if necessary.BDR has a great work ethic but he is not a premiership player.Marco Silva should have put on James at half time. He has electric pace and could have given us something different. Palhinha is a ace signing, but getting booked nearly every match is worrying. He must be close to a one match suspension . Out first half performance was poor and general lack of effort and concentration. The second was a vast improvement.
Robinson and Tete have been excellent this season. The defensive signings are good for depth but do not look premier league ready. I trust Silva will get them up to speed as he continues to point to the fact that most didn’t have a full preseason. I feel for Mbabu coming on early in the wrong position. However, he looks timid, slow, and lacking in confidence. Robinson and Tete oozing confidence at the moment. They are aggressive, anticipate well, and make decisions quickly and decisively. Let’s hope both fullbacks remain healthy for most of the season and that Mbabu and Kurzawa will get up to speed and improve.
Truth is that there were a lot of tired legs out there. Before destroying with our negative comments players like Bobby D. Reid, lets keep in mind that this guy ran his socks off, starting all our matches this season. I am more worried about the lack of backup for our midfield duo since I believe Tottenham dominated the match from the middle of the park where Reed and Palinha showed heavy legs for the above mentioned reasons.
Thanks Charles. I meant Mbabu, slip of the fingers, he was still awful. He seemed unaware of his job.
Can’t believe the comments about Reid – he’s so useful to us as a utility player. Effective in so many areas on the pitch, and of particular importance is his ability to link up play with Mitrovic in the final third.
We’re fortunate to have someone able to cover injured players so well. Reid’s best position is probably the number 10, if he wasn’t required to play in other positions at the moment i expect he’d be challenging Perreira and Cairney for that spot.
He needs to improve his finishing and end product, but given he’s been playing every position other than that number 10 for a long time now, i’d forgive the guy for not being as effective as he could be when he gets forward.
I really think Diop is a big mistake and we could have done a lot better than him he also seems lazy and I would prefer Duffy , wasted money on Diop and I don’t think we will get that money back. James has to start against Chelsea.
Totally agree with the comments above and although outplayed for the majority of the match we got away without a hammering to the goal difference. Yes Mbabu was on wrong side …worrying but let’s remember on his right side he is a better proposition. Our usual few still performers admiralty but we still have progress to make. We were much better after the subs. But we must get the finishing better to support / relieve the pressure on Mitro to score. TC brought some stability to the midfield and our two players out on the wings had little input so improvements needed there.
It’s not doom and gloom we have started well.. above possibly our expectations so with the final squad let’s tweek and tinker to improve.