Hugo on the spot

Hugo Lloris reflected on his penalty save against Fulham and modestly declared: “Luck was on my side.”

The French international skipper was in fine form against the Cottagers, making world-class saves at crucial stages of the match as we ran out 3-1 winners at the Lane.

Hugo denied Hugo Rodallega one-on-one at 0-0, then brilliantly tipped the same player’s header over at 2-1 and finally palmed away Steve Sidwell’s penalty at 3-1.

Sidwell certainly struck the spot-kick firmly but Hugo was behind it to palm away.

“You never know in football, especially in the Premier League, if they scored the penalty I’m sure it would have been another interesting end to the game,” said Hugo.

“Luck plays a part in penalties. There is more chance the striker will score than the goalkeeper will save but this time, the luck was on my side.”

As for his tip over from Rodallega’s bullet header - a save that prompted the Fulham striker to give him a congratulatory hug - Hugo added: “It was a great header, like a shot, the ball was not too far from me so I had time to tip it over the bar. It was important not to concede at that moment.”

Hugo admitted we ‘needed a good performance’ as goals from Paulinho, Harry Kane and Younes Kaboul - Paulinho and Younes via Christian Eriksen’s free-kick delivery - secured maximum points.

“We needed to start well, especially after West Brom and I think we did that,” he added. “But we then conceded a silly goal, we need to learn from that.

“We scored quickly in the second half with Harry’s header, then scored the third. After, Fulham had some chances but we did the job.

“Now we have three games left, I hope we will take three more wins and finish the season as high as possible. We need to keep working, keep going and be focused for the next game at Stoke.”