Disappointment at Craven Cottage

A second-half fightback fell short as we suffered another Premier League defeat with Fulham taking the points on Sunday afternoon.

In what was Igor Tudor’s first away game as our new Head Coach, the home side took control of the contest with first-half goals from Harry Wilson and Alex Iwobi. The Cottagers should have been out of sight as they missed a number of good chances, allowing us to get a foothold in the match when Richarlison came off the bench to pull a goal back mid-way through the second period.

We battled for a much-needed equaliser but couldn’t find the goal we craved to suffer a third straight defeat at Craven Cottage, while the result means we haven’t won in 10 Premier League games now. Defeats this weekend for all the teams around us towards the bottom of the table mean we remain four points outside of the relegation zone.

We made two changes from last weekend as Pedro Porro returned from injury and came in for Djed Spence – his first start since Burnley on 24 January – with Dominic Solanke replacing Pape Matar Sarr. A lively start saw a dangerous Xavi Simons cross cut out to prevent Randal Kolo Muani converting at the far post, while it was the visitors who took the lead in the seventh minute. There looked to be a bit of a push by Raul Jimenez on Radu Dragusin as the ball came into the box, with Wilson hammering home the loose ball from 10 yards out. VAR had a look, but gave the goal.

We tried to respond quickly, with Joao Palhinha’s effort from the edge of the box deflected for a corner and Pedro Porro firing over as the set-piece was cleared to him in the 16th minute, before Kenny Tete hit one just a yard wide at the other end. It was an even game for a while and we had some good attacking moments without quite finding that final pass, however we fell further behind to a wonder goal from Iwobi with 34 minutes on the clock. The Fulham forward played the ball in to Wilson and then hit the return pass first time from 25 yards out, an arrow of a low shot that beat Guglielmo Vicario and went in off the far post.

As the half drew to a close, we created a number of good chances – Yves Bissouma with an effort blocked by Issa Diop, Dragusin volleying over from a Xavi corner and Calvin Bassey blocking Palhinha’s 20-yard drive. But Bassey almost made it 3-0 on the stroke of half-time, only to volley over from close range following a corner.

Six minutes into the second half, Fulham again nearly added a third when Oscar Bobb released Emile Smith Rowe down the left and his angled drive drifted just past Vicario’s far post. Chances were coming thick and fast in that period, Conor Gallagher creating another as he won the ball inside the Fulham box but couldn’t pick out anyone with his low pass across the six-yard area, before Micky van de Ven produced an excellent block to deny Jimenez from close range.

We made a triple change just before the hour with Richarlison, Mathys Tel and Sarr coming on for Kolo Muani, Xavi and Gallagher but needed a big save from Vicario a few minutes later to stay in the game, the keeper rushing out quickly to deny Smith Rowe who was in acres of space. It proved to be a key moment as in the 66th minute we pulled one back. Tel did really well down the left flank up against Tete before laying off for Archie Gray to clip a wonderful deep cross which Richarlison headed home to give us renewed hope.

Both sides were continuing to fashion opportunities, Fulham substitute Tom Cairney dragging wide from 20 yards out and Iwobi high and wide this time with another chance after good work from Samuel Chukwueze. Vicario then made a comfortable save from Ricardo Muniz while we had a good chance when Tel and Souza combined down the left, Sarr nicked the ball inside the area but could only fire into the side-netting. Then, with the very last action of the game, Pedro Porro’s free-kick eventually fell to Palhinha 15 yards out and an equaliser looked on the cards but his effort couldn’t find a way through a packed area and Fulham cleared with the final whistle sounding as they did.

Match data

Goals: Fulham – Wilson 7, Iwobi 34; Spurs – Richarlison 66.

Yellow cards: Fulham – Diop, Bassey, Cairney; Spurs – van de Ven, Richarlison, Pedro Porro.

Referee: Thomas Bramall.

Venue: Craven Cottage.

Weather: Light rain, gentle breeze, 12 degrees.

Attendance: 27,439.