Image Credit: The Independent
By Lee Clow 20 January 2019 | Premier League
Harry Winks scored his first goal since November 2016 in stoppage time to give Spurs a 2-1 win over London rivals Fulham.
Spurs showed they could cope without Harry Kane and Son Heung-min as an unlikely goal scorer found himself in the box to apply the finishing touch from Georges-Kevin Nkoudou’s cross.
Fulham had an impressive first half accumulating nine shots on Tottenham’s goal, however it was a Tottenham man who scored their opening goal. Fernando Llorente, who was brought in up front to replace injured Harry Kane, inadvertently diverted a corner past his keeper Hugo Lloris to give Fulham a deserved lead (17). Spurs were very lucky not to go into the break with a two-goal deficit with Aleksander Mitrovic heading in a rebound shot from Andre Schurrle, only for it to be ruled offside. Spurs were very short of ideas with their only major chance in the first half coming from Llorente’s scuffed header after connecting with Vertonghen’s deep cross.
However, after the interval, Spurs responded well and within 6 minutes they equalized through Dele Alli, who ghosted in behind Fulham’s defence to head in Christian Eriksen’s pin-point cross. (51). Spurs kept pushing for a winning goal with Danny Rose’s deflected shot striking the bar and Llorente glancing a header wide. With the minutes counting down, it looked like Spurs were going to draw their first league game since April and Fulham were going to earn a vital point towards their survival bid however, it was cruelly snatched away from them after substitute Georges Kevin-Nkoudou whipped in a beautiful cross that was met by Winks (90+3). The only downside to the game for Spurs is the fact they lost Dele Alli to another injury meaning they now have 6 first team members out of the squad.
A great result for Spurs gives them a comfortable seven-point cushion rivals Arsenal in fifth and a 4-point lead over Chelsea in fourth, in the battle for Champions League places. For Fulham, they remain 3 points off bottom and 7 points from safety in their relegation battle.
Tottenham were not their greatest today and that was highlighted by manager Mauricio Pochettino after the game. Pochettino spoke "The performance was solid, although maybe not great.” The Spurs boss also spoke about the injuries in his squad "Some injuries appear in a period with a busier schedule and another opportunity opens the door for players not consistently in the starting XI or on the bench. It is great opportunity for different players to show quality."
Despite the result, newly appointed Fulham boss Claudio Ranieri was in praise with his sides first half performance but also mentioned how the lack of experience in the second half cost them. "Unbelievable. Our first half was fantastic…Second half we controlled the match very well in different ways. We gave a gift with the first goal and the second goal is unbelievable…We lack experience. Calm, stay calm, keep possession, finish the match."
What’s next?
Fulham host Brighton in the Premier League on Tuesday, 29 January while Tottenham face Chelsea in a tough second leg fixture in the Carabao Cup semi-final at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, 24 January.
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