A Well Deserved Win at Home to Fulham

Saturday 3rd September 2022 - 3:00pm

Match Report

Tottenham Hotspur 2 – 1 Fulham

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

Competition: English Premier League

"Pre-Match Thoughts – Not at our best again at West Ham in the week but we remain unbeaten. Strong favourites today against newly promoted Fulham, but they'll be doing everything they can to cause an upset.

I can see it being 3-0."

With two big games in the next week, Marseille at home then Man City away, Conte made five changes to the lineup. Romero returned in place of Sánchez, Bentancur came back into centre midfield for Bissouma, Sessegnon took Perišić's place, and both Lenglet and Richarlison made their first starts for the club, with Ben Davies and Kulusevski making way for them.

7' Bentancur played into the feet of Kane on the edge of the area, he showed good strength to hold-off his man before turning, shifting it into a shooting position, then drilling an effort towards the bottom left corner. Leno reacted quickly to get down and palm it wide.

33' Again Kane was found on the edge of the box with his back to goal. This time he swivelled and chipped it into the path of Son who'd made a good run and chested it down before firing at goal from 6 yards but it cannoned off the crossbar. So unlucky!

40' GOAL! Royal hustled away at a Fulham player deep inside the opposition half down the right wing and eventually won possession, toeing it to Bentancur. He was quick to find Son, who laid it off to Højbjerg on the edge of the area. The Dane stubbed it into Richarlison and continued his run into the box. Richarlison poked it back to him and Højbjerg took a touch out of his feet before stroking it across goal into the bottom corner. 1-0.

"Thoughts at Half-Time – Spurs deservedly lead after a dominant first half. Hopefully we see more of the same in the second and score a few more goals to boost our goal difference."

Spurs continued to be on top and demonstrated a lot of stylish build-up play, but it just wasn't falling for them in the final third. The score remained at 1-0 for a long time, with a Spurs second feeling inevitable.

75' GOAL! Richarlison found Højbjerg in space after he'd dropped deep. He sprayed a ball out wide to Sessegnon that he took down on his chest then looked up and slid in Son down the line. Son's cross was cut-out, but Sessegnon found it on the follow up and after his first attempt at a cross was blocked he squeezed in a shot from a tight angle that deflected off the keeper and fell for Kane to turn in on the volley. 2-0.

82' Lovely football from Spurs as Romero found Son in the middle who touched it back to Lenglet, he sprayed it left to Sessegnon on the left wing by the halfway line. Sessegnon knocked it back inside to Son who shifted it to Richarlison and raced on for the return down the left side of the area, Richarlison chipped it through to him and Son cut it back to the edge of the box where the Brazilian met it again with a spectacular leaping volley that crashed off the inside of the left post.

A sublime passing move from back to front. What a memorable way it would have been for Richarlison to net his first for the club.

83' Goal. Fulham scrambled the ball away and it resulted in a counter that eventually saw a cross-field pass sent long to Mitrovic inside the top corner of the Spurs box. He chested it down, turned inside Romero and curled a shot across goal into the top corner. 2-1.

88' Mitrovic was causing a tired looking Romero all sorts of problems in the closing stages and again he was picked out on the top left corner of the box where he cut inside our Argentine centre-back and unleashed a shot. This time Romero managed to get something in the way but it deflected up and was looping over Lloris into the far corner but for a tremendous acrobatic leap and fingertip wide from our skipper.

What a sucker punch that would have been!

90' Højbjerg played a through ball that Sessegnon raced onto, took a touch, then sent across the 6 yard box for Richarlison to slide in and knock into the back of the net. He wheeled off in celebration, ripping off his shirt as the home support cheered their new number 9's first goal.

...Only for it to be chalked-off moments later for another hairline VAR offside decision.

"Thoughts at Full-Time – Probably Spurs' best performance of the season so far and one that warranted more goals. 2-1 flatters Fulham, but to be fair they managed to stay in it and could have snatched a draw at the end. Let's hope to see more of the excellent spells of football we saw today on Wednesday, when Champions League football returns to White Hart Lane in the shape of Marseille."

Tottenham Player Ratings

• 1. Hugo Lloris – 7.5 – Pulled off a superb save at the end to deny Mitrovic snatching an equaliser. Couldn't have done much more with the one he did score.

• 17. Cristian Romero – 6 – Good to see him back and slotted straight in as expected. Had a big lapse of concentration for Mitrovic's goal though and made it far too easy for him.

• 15. Eric Dier – 7 – Didn't have a whole lot to do but generally coped well with what did come his way. Arguably should have put away Richarlison's cross that he skied.

• 34. Clément Lenglet – 7 – An impressive first start for the Frenchman. He showed good composure and passing prowess.

• 12. Emerson Royal – 6.5 – His delivery let him down again, but he worked hard and got into some promising positions. Did well in the build-up to the first goal.

• 30. Rodrigo Bentancur – 8 – We clearly benefitted from having him back in the middle of the park. He's so calm on the ball which helps break down opposition attacks and pick out correct passes to get us on the front foot. His pressing really helps the team too.

• 5. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – 8 – Excellent play to open up the scoring with a well spotted one-two before finishing from inside the box. Battled throughout as per to help us get the win.

• 19. Ryan Sessegnon – 8.5 – Heavily involved as the instruction was clearly to attack down his left side as opposed to Royal on the other. Did well to cause constant problems for his former side with energetic runs down the wing. Set-up Kane's goal with a deflected shot-cum-cross then set-up Richarlison's disallowed goal too. A promising display from the up and coming youngster.

• 9. Richarlison – 9 – His first start and was a menace throughout. Set-up Son for a chance that was missed, then teed-up Højbjerg for the opener. Unlucky to hit the inside of the post with an outstanding volley. Found a goal late on that looked to be the icing on the cake of a fine first 90 in a Spurs shirt, and his passionate celebration was something we love to see. Unfortunately it was ruled out by VAR for offside, but if he carries on like this he'll soon have that first goal on the board.

• 7. Son Heung-min – 7.5 – Much better from him. Had a goal ruled-out for offside then struck the bar after linking up well with Kane. Was full of energy and sure he'll be finding the net again soon.

• 10. Harry Kane – 9 – Looked bright from the off and forced Leno into an early save. Demonstrated strong hold-up play and passing ability and pulled the strings through most of the match. Got the goal his performance deserved after being in the right place to tap home Sessegnon's saved effort.

Substitutions:

• 10. Harry Kane ⬅ 78' ➡ 21. Dejan Kulusevski – 6 – Seemed harsh to be dropped out the side, maybe it was just to rest him. Didn't see many minutes but still managed to deliver a dangerous cross.

• 7. Son Heung-min ⬅ 84' ➡ 14. Ivan Perišić – N/A – On late to sure things up.

Man of the Match – 9. Richarlison