Fulham substitutes have made a habit of eye-catching cameos this season. The most headline grabbing of all belonged to Harry Wilson last month against Brentford, but Tom Cairney won’t forget his 20 minute cameo at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this afternoon in a hurry. The veteran midfielder curled home a classy equaliser to bring his side level against Spurs, who were fortunate on the balance of play to be leading through Brennan Johnson’s predatory strike, before seeing red with seven minutes left for a late challenge on Dejan Kulusevski. Marco Silva’s side then scrapped for all they were worth to hold onto a well deserved point – although had they taken a host of chances to open the scoring before Johnson, it might well have been all three.

Ange Postecoglou’s side struggled for a focal point up front in the absence of the ill Dominic Solanke. Son Heung-Min filled in as a centre forward, but the South Korean superstar struggled to pull Fulham’s only two fit senior centre backs, Calvin Bassey and Issa Diop out of position. Son was denied by Bernd Leno’s leg inside the first minute but only looked dangerous when released behind the visiting back four and Spurs struggled for fluency against a Fulham side who seemed confident and purposeful in possession.

It was Tottenham’s makeshift defence that looked much more vulnerable. Ben Davies, deputising at centre back with Christian Romero still sidelined by a toe injury, made a couple of crucial last-ditch interceptions whilst Fraser Forster, making a first Premier League appearance since last May, kept Tottenham in the game with a number of superb saves. He sprawled across his goal to turn a Raul Jimenez volley aside before Alex Iwobi saw another sweet strike turned onto the crossbar by Forster after an excellent Fulham counter-attack.

Radu Dragusin saw a powerful header from a corner well kept out by Leno and the former Arsenal goalkeeper was almost beaten on the stroke of half time by a clever free-kick from James Maddison, who squeezed his effort under the Fulham wall as they all jumped. The shot clipped the outside of the post – and it remained all-square after an intriguing first 45 minutes.

The visitors carried their confidence into the second half and could have been in front within five minutes of the restart. Excellent approach play from Reiss Nelson fashioned a headed opportunity for Diop that saw Forster save again and Kenny Tete, well forward from right back, fired over as the Whites continued to commit numbers forward. Forster excelled himself again to keep out an effort from Iwobi after the winger had spun superbly and then grabbed a header from Jimenez – but the visitors were about to pay the harshest of penalties for not taking any of their chances.

Timo Werner exploited Robinson’s presence upfield to drift into a dangerous area and picked out Johnson at the back post. The Welsh winger finished adroitly, powering a first-time volley beyond Leno despite the desperate dive of Bassey to give Spurs a lead they barely merited. Silva immediately turned to his bench, sending on Cairney and Wilson, in search of more penetration and his side found a leveller within four minutes.

Robinson rolled a first-time ball into the penalty area for Iwobi, who cleverly cut the ball back to the edge of the box, where Cairney curled his first goal in more than a year past Forster to the delight of the travelling fans behind the goal. The captain’s delight turned to disgust when the yellow card he had been shown for a late challenge on Kulusevski was upgraded to a red after the video assistant referee advised Darren Bond to view the tackle on the pitchside monitor.

The home fans roared their side forward but their only chance arrived from a corner in the last minute of normal time when Dragusin’s downward header went wide of Leno’s goal. Fulham, who had introduced Timothy Castagne and Ryan Sessegnon to solidify their share of the spoils, might have won it in stoppage time when Wilson did brilliantly to win the ball in his own half and sprinted 70 yards into the Tottenham penalty area, only for his low cross to be scrambled behind by Dragusin.

Silva promised a reaction after his side surrendered a winning position in abject fashion against Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend – and this spirited showing was much more like the Fulham side who have proven their worth in the top flight over the past two seasons. Spurs might still be bafflingly inconsistent, but – after overcoming adversity – this was a praiseworthy point.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (4-3-3): Forster; Porro, Udogie, Dragusin, Davies; Bissouma, Sarr (Gray 85; Lankshear 90+6), Maddison (Bergvall 85); Johnson, Werner (Kulusevski 68), Son Heung-Min. Subs (not used): Austin, Spence, Olusesi, Regulion, Williams-Barnett.

GOAL: Johnson (54).

FULHAM (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, A. Robinson, Diop, Bassey; Lukic (Cairney 63), Berge; Iwobi (R. Sessegnon 86), Nelson (Wilson 62), Smith Rowe (Castagne 86); Jimenez (Muniz 78). Subs (not used): Benda, Amissah, King, Traore.

BOOKED: Lukic.

SENT OFF: Cairney (83).

GOAL: Cairney (67).

REFEREE: Darren Bond (Lancashire).

ATTENDANCE: 61,141.