Tottenham’s inconsistent form continued as Fulham clung on for a point after the visitors’ captain Tom Cairney came on, scored a deserved equaliser to make it 1-1 and then saw red for a nasty challenge on Dejan Kulusevski.
Fulham were ruing a string of missed chances and saves from stand-in Spurs ‘keeper Fraser Forster when Brennan Johnson volleyed in his 10th goal of the season from a counter-attack on 54 minutes.
But sub Cairney brilliantly fired them level 13 minutes later from Alex Iwobi’s pass with his first goal in a year – and first away from home in the Premier League in 14 years.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Michael Bridge and Pete Smith reflect on Tottenham’s 1-1 draw with Fulham in the Premier League.
There was controversy at that point as Cairney had come on for Sasa Lukic who had been lucky to escape a second yellow card for a challenge on Heung-Min Son. But referee Darren Bond was rightly swift to show Cairney a red when VAR advised him to watch the midfielder rake his studs into Kulusevski’s calf.
That left Fulham needing to see out the final five minutes of normal time and seven minutes added on and, despite Spurs piling forward, Marco Silva’s men managed to leave north London with a point.
There were boos at full-time from the home fans who have seen their side win just one of their five Premier League games after Europa League fixtures.
Spurs – who were missing ill Dominic Solanke, had first-choice centre-backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven out and Rodrigo Bentancur suspended – were far from their best here.
Son and Radu Dragusin were both denied by Bernd Leno in the first half and James Maddison saw a free-kick deflected against a post. But Fulham should have gone ahead from a couple of good openings for Raul Jimenez in that first period, when Forster was able to benefit from a poor touch and a miscued strike.
Fulham won the shot count and had twice as many shots on target as their hosts. Tottenham – at Bournemouth on Thursday – will need to pick themselves up after a disappointing result again. They sit seventh, three points off the top four. Fulham are a point back in 10th.
Postecoglou: Whatever we do well is used to bring us down at every opportunity
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou:
“Tough game, tight game. Not a lot of openings for either side. Just a few sort of opportunities to score. We started the game well and should have been on the up and put the pressure on but they then had their spells. We got our noses in front, and we couldn’t push on. Not for a lack of trying, the players did everything they could, but we couldn’t push on. A decent strike for their goal.”
On boos and inconsistency: “I didn’t hear that, if that’s the case. I’m not talking about the supporters, I’ve had three questions on the Man City game and why can’t we replicate that? We’ve lost significant players in seven days. It seems with this club, whatever we do well is used to bring us down in every opportunity.
“From my perspective, it’s important we don’t react to any of that and stay focused. I just sometimes feel like with the players we have at the moment, they are working hard to progress to where we want to be and we’re still in good shape. A decent position in the league, Carabao Cup and Europe. We’re still focused on continuing to develop.”
Analysis: Ange’s squad does not match his style
Sky Sports‘ Sam Blitz at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium:
The boos rang round at full-time and it felt like back to square one for Tottenham. Ange Postecoglou does not want his team compared to last week’s win over Manchester City – but when are Spurs going to build on a performance like that, show consistency and go on a run to take them forward?
Their inconsistency is best shown after games in Europe. Since beating Manchester United – albeit a poor team in one of Erik ten Hag’s lowest ebbs – after the first Europa League game of the season, Spurs have failed to win each of their four matches following a continental game since.
Three defeats to Brighton, Crystal Palace and Ipswich, now a stalemate against Fulham – and they deserved to lose this one.
The reason for this poor form? Concerns over squad quality and size can be argued against given Tottenham’s injury list – added to by Dominic Solanke’s unfortunate withdrawal with illness – but how Postecoglou has used his squad recently can be questioned.
Dejan Kulusevski played 90 minutes in Thursday’s draw with Roma in a Europa League Spurs are likely to qualify for the next round – but could not start today due to too many minutes.
Heung-Min Son, Brennan Johnson and four out of the back five also started the game – most of them looked off as Fulham took control in north London.
Can Spurs use their squad better? It is becoming apparent that Postecoglou’s vibrant style of play does not match the equipment he has available. The January transfer window opens in one month’s time, if injuries continue then Tottenham need bodies.
Tom Cairney celebrates after equalising for Fulham at Spurs
Silva: It would have been painful to lose
Fulham manager Marco Silva:
“We deserved more from the game, deserved to win the game. Tottenham had good chances too, but overall we had more and more control of the game.
“It was a great first half from us, good chances, apart from the first minutes when the pressure of Tottenham caused problems. When we beat the pressure, we did well always. It’s not easy to always be on top against Tottenham, especially with the front line and Maddison.
“The chances are the moments where we have to be more ruthless, then you can’t give the chance we gave for the first goal. We need more responsibility from ourselves, but it was a great reaction from us.
“My view of the red card? We all know Tom Cairney, he’s not a malicious player at all. Honestly speaking with you, I’m pushing him to be more aggressive in the right way of course. Looking at the images, you have to say he is unlucky. If you look just at the images, it’s a red card.
“It would have been painful to have nothing from the game. In some moments we don’t perform we want, but when we don’t pick up three points we always deserved something more.
“Yes there were Tottenham injuries, Joachim Andersen not here, Andreas Pereira not here. If you want to talk about injuries for Tottenham look at other teams in similar situations.”
Analysis: Fulham ruing missed opportunities this season
Sky Sports’ Peter Smith at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium:
Fulham have now won on just one of their 15 trips to Tottenham in the Premier League – this could so easily have been a rare victory for Marco Silva’s side in north London. Up until the 85th minute they were the side carving out the better opportunities.
Stand-in Spurs ‘keeper Forster was sharp and the bar was rattled. Sub Cairney deservedly got them level but when he was rightly shown a red the prospects of three points faded.
Silva will point to a series of other fixtures this season where Fulham will feel like they could have got more than they did and with the table so tight there would have been the possibility to be in a much higher position than 10th. But the key will now be to build on the positives of their performances in the opening months of this season if they are to challenge for a European spot.
