Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Fulham
Spurs made it two wins from two with a 3-1 win over Fulham at Wembley Stadium, and Harry Kane finally got a goal in August!
But that defeat means no points from two games for Slavisa Jokanovic’s Fulham on their return to the top flight, after equalising early in the second half before Spurs ran away with the game.
Premier League Spurs vs Fulham is the kind of fixture where you expect artistry, guile, and the finer points of the beautiful game. We love that at SBOBET, and we weren’t disappointed today as these two London teams put on an entertaining show.
And it’s so far so good for Mauricio Pochettino, who needn’t worry about another slow start to the season at Wembley on this evidence.
Highlights of the game
Spurs have had the better of the Cottagers in recent times with Spurs vs Fulham results invariably going the way of the Champions League regulars, now with nine wins from ten Premier league meetings.
And it looked like the same story would be told as early as the seventh minute when Harry Kane picked up a loose ball and dinked it past Fabri and into the net. But the goal was disallowed as Lucas was judged to have fouled the Fulham keeper in his earlier attempt.
Then Kane thought he’d won a penalty after taking a pass from Christian Eriksen before falling under a challenge from Timothy Fosu-Mensah, but the referee was having none of it.
It was one-way-traffic and, on 23 minutes, wing-back Kieran Trippier whipped in a ball which found its way to Eriksen. The Dane’s shot whistled narrowly wide. Fabri was always likely to be the busier keeper, but Hugo Lloris showed his World Cup form on 28 minutes after a save on Tom Cairney’s shot.
Fabri, signed from Turkish side Besiktas in July, was called on to save an Eriksen free-kick but was a bit lucky to see his parry go safely. But then it was Lloris again who came to Spurs’ rescue after coming smartly off his line to deny Fulham wonder kid Ryan Sessegnon.
The opening goal eventually came just before the break, and it was the lively Lucas who broke the deadlock. The Fulham defence failed to clear an Eriksen cross, and Lucas curled the ball home beautifully for his first Premier League goal for the Whites.
Jokanovic brought his side up to the Premier League playing attractive attacking football. He said, prior to this game, he wouldn’t compromise his team’s style in pursuit of survival. And they were so unlucky just after the break when Aleksandar Mitrovic’s shot bounced back off the post.
But the Serb got his reward minutes later when Sessegnon fluffed a shot and the ball bounced kindly for Mitrovic to head home.
That goal seemed to take the wind out of Spurs’ sails, and Fulham looked comfortable for a while. But as the game entered its last quarter, the hosts upped the ante. First, Ben Davies put in a dangerous cross which Fabri fumbled but cleared just in time. And then, Trippier centred a fantastic ball which Kane side-footed onto the crossbar.
And it was that man Tripper who put Spurs ahead again, on 75 minutes, with a peach of a free-kick from all of 30 yards to give Fabri no chance at all. That raised the Wembley roof, but it flew right off three minutes later when Kane finally broke his August hoodoo.
Erik Lamela broke quickly and crossed for the England skipper who took one touch before firing low into the far corner, making it 3-1 and game over.
Key statistics
The Spurs vs Fulham odds said this was as good as won for the hosts before a ball was even kicked, but it took until the final 15 minutes for the favourites to win the game.
Harry Kane had never scored a Premier League goal in August – a run of 14 matches, an incredible statistic which was finally laid to rest with just 12 minutes left on the clock.
It was Fulham’s 1000th game in the English top flight, but they have now conceded in each of their last 19 Premier League away games, the worst record of the 20 sides in the competition this year.
Meanwhile, Spurs lost just two home games in 39.
What’s next?
It’s Monday-night football for Spurs when they travel to Old Trafford to play Manchester United in one of the big games of the season, in the final EPL match of next weekend. That will be a good test for Pochettino’s men.
And Fulham will be asked some difficult questions at home to Burnley on Sunday. The Clarets are a tough nut to crack and can strike with venom. Jokanovic may need to get down and dirty for that one.
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