After almost three weeks away, returning to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium did nothing to help Spurs, who slumped to a third straight defeat after losing 2-1 to Fulham in the Premier League most recently.
On one side, you had a Fulham team who hadn’t won away from Craven Cottage all season, while on the other, a Tottenham side that had not won at home since the opening week of the campaign.
It felt like a case of who would finally break their run, and even though Spurs were expected to take advantage, it was Fulham who deservedly walked away with their first away win of the season, which also happened to be their first in North London in more than a decade.
Spurs came into this off the back of a disastrous 4-1 defeat at Arsenal, but the midweek performance against PSG in the Champions League had at least offered something to cling onto. Even in a 5-3 loss, there were signs of encouragement, and it felt like this was the moment Thomas Frank’s team returned to winning ways.
Frank made four changes from that PSG game, with Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall reunited in midfield as many fans had hoped. The concerning part for Tottenham fans was that he couldn’t fit Xavi Simons into the XI, instead opting for the experience of Joao Palhinha.
First half: Tottenham 0-2 Fulham
Before either side could settle, Fulham were in front inside four minutes when Bergvall misread a pass from Chukwueze, and the ball slipped through to Kenny Tete, whose low strike took a slight touch off Destiny Udogie to roll into the bottom corner.
Barely a minute later, Spurs unravelled even further. Guglielmo Vicario rushed out of his box to deal with a long ball but completely mishit his clearance under pressure from Raul Jimenez. It dropped straight to Josh King, who squared it for Harry Wilson to curl into an empty net from distance.
It was the first time in Spurs’ history they had conceded twice inside the opening five minutes of a Premier League match, and Vicario’s next two touches were met with loud boos from the home crowd
Not much later, it could’ve been much worse for Tottenham had it not been for Van de Ven’s risky interception that denied Fulham their 3rd, before Chukwueze hit the post from a curling effort from the following corner.
The Tottenham captain again had to be involved, only to this time deny an even more obvious goalscoring opportunity when Pedro Porro lost the ball to Chukwueze, who raced 1v1 vs Vicario before rounding him and finishing into an open net, except an incoming, rightly timed Van de Ven sliding challenge ensured Tottenham’s deficit didn’t increase before half time when supporters were already waiting for the whistle to boo the team.
Second half: Tottenham 1-2 Fulham
Despite the state of the first half, where Spurs could create only 0.07 xG, Frank chose not to make any changes at the break.
After what was surely an intense half-time message, Spurs at least showed flashes of life, beginning with Kolo Muani’s early attempt that was blocked by Bassey’s body. The French forward then came closest to reducing the deficit when he beat Bassey to Porro’s delivery and powered a header into the side-netting from close range.
Spurs did not have to wait much longer to find a way back into the contest, as Bergvall regained possession later and immediately picked out the run of Mohammed Kudus, who smashed a brilliant strike into the top corner to bring Tottenham back into the game and inject some much-needed energy into both the players and the crowd.
The momentum suddenly shifted, and substitute Xavi Simons almost levelled with a close-range effort that was blocked by Joachim Andersen, and from the resulting corner, Bergvall’s header was cleared off the goal line by Jimenez.
Spurs couldn’t sustain that momentum for long or at least until they found their equaliser, except for a late chance when Kolo Muani backheeled just wide after a scramble in the box following a Kevin Danso long throw, but that was as close as they came.
What’s next for Spurs?
The pressure on Thomas Frank only increases now, and it would’ve been far worse for him if not for the 10 minutes of impressive football they played after Mohammed Kudus pulled one back, but he will still have some uncomfortable questions to answer.
Some of the damage naturally comes down to individual errors. Vicario’s mistake for the second goal was as costly as it gets, and Porro’s heavy touch in the first half should have resulted in another Fulham goal if not for Van de Ven’s crucial intervention, but Spurs were poor as a collective for far too long in this match.
That said, the only bright sparks from this game were Micky Van de Ven, Mohammed Kudus and Randal Kolo Muani, who looked a constant threat up front, got into some really nice positions, and pressed with the same high-energy pace throughout the 90, but unfortunately couldn’t score.
The result further pushes Spurs down to 10th, with a risk of them dropping to 13th given either Liverpool or Man United, who are level with Tottenham on points, at least draw their game in hand.
It also means that Tottenham now have just 1 win in their previous 7 games in all competitions, with 3 back-to-back heavy losses since the international break, conceding 11 goals in the space of a week.
Frank will desperately hope for a response on Tuesday when his side travel to St James’ Park to face Newcastle in what already feels like a defining fixture in his early tenure.