Spurs 2-1 Fulham - on-the-whistle report
We recorded our 100th London derby victory in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, but had to see off a late Fulham rally to secure the three points at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
We recorded our 100th London derby victory in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, but had to see off a late Fulham rally to secure the three points at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
A goal in each half from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Harry Kane gave us a deserved 2-0 lead, but Aleksandar Mitrovic curled home with seven minutes remaining to set up a frantic finish although we were able to see it through to make it six games without defeat this season.
Kane tested Bernd Leno as early as the seventh minute, hitting a right-foot shot that the Fulham keeper tipped away and we had the ball in the net four minutes later, Heung-Min Son’s cross missing everyone and curling in, but Kane’s attempt to flick the ball in from an offside position meant it was ruled out.
We were totally dominant but just couldn’t find the breakthrough. Son’s shot deflected off Tim Ream for a corner and he had a glorious chance after Kane found him with a chipped ball over the top but crashed the ball against the woodwork, before Clement Lenglet glanced Son’s corner into the side-netting.
The opener finally came on 40 minutes after our high press won the ball back thanks to Emerson Royal’s endeavours. Rodrigo Bentancur picked up possession and we worked it to Hojbjerg, who played a one-two with Richarlison and slid the return ball into the far corner.
After the break, we kept up the intensity in our play but found Leno hard to get past. After Eric Dier had blazed over from eight yards, the Fulham keeper kept out Richarlison’s low shot and then got the feintest of touches to divert Sessegnon’s angled drive just past the post, before pushing away Son’s deflected effort.
Fulham had come close in between, Lloris diving to his right to tip away Mitrovic’s deflected shot but we added to our tally with a breakaway goal which ended with Kane tucking home Sessegnon’s low cross.
It was almost 3-0 on 82 minutes when Richarlison volleyed Son’s cutback against the inside of the post, but instead it was 2-1. Fulham cleared their lines, hitting us on the break with the ball ending up at the feet of Mitrovic, who cut inside Cristian Romero and curled home with an excellent effort. And Lloris had to scramble to his left to tip away another deflected Mitrovic shot with two minutes left.
We thought we had the game won in the 90th minute when Richarlison poked home Sessegnon’s centre from close range, only for the latter to have been offside in the build up and VAR ruled it out. It mattered not though and we marched on with a third successive home win.
"I really enjoyed our performance..."
Speaking to SPURSPLAY, Antonio said: "Now, for sure, we can enjoy this win, because we deserve it. We played really well. I liked the game, the way we played, the intensity, the intention. We created so many chances. I’m really pleased with our performance. I told them at the end of the game, because I think we played with personality, quality and did a lot of positive things. But, at the end, you know very well that to win, you have to score. If I have to find a situation that we have to improve it’s to be more clinical, to be more killer, and to score more goals. In this way, we’d be more relaxed, and we’d enjoy the game until the end."
Match data
Goals: Spurs - Hojbjerg 40, Kane 75; Fulham - Mitrovic 83.
Yellow cards: Spurs - Romero, Bentancur, Richarlison; Fulham - Tete, De Cordova-Reid, Palhinha, Mitrovic.
Referee: Stuart Attwell.
Attendance: 61,641.
Weather: Sunny intervals, gentle breeze, 24 degrees.