Tottenham Hotspur survived a late Fulham onslaught as the London giants earned a deserving 2-1 win over the newly promoted side.
Riding on goals from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Harry Kane, Antonio Conte’s side has maintained their unbeaten start to this already promising season.
The home side took control of the match from the very first minute as they wanted to kill the game at any cost. Prior to their Champions League adventure, they were in the hunt for a positive performance and the team didn’t disappoint with a near-perfect display.
A flurry of attacks invaded the Fulham box as it looked like a goal was only a matter of time but the Cottagers’ defence remained feisty as they held on to their shape pretty convincingly.
Richarlison was given his first Spurs start and the Brazilian kept the Fulham defenders busy with some fine footwork in the attacking third. Heung-min Son’s cross burst into the net but the goal was ruled offside as skipper Harry Kane attempted to flick it on.
The England forward operated a bit deep as he tried to feed balls to the other two attackers. Spurs soon got their lead through an unlikely source as Hojberg interchanged passes with Richarlison before latching a low shot into the bottom corner.
Tottenham kept the pressure on the opponent and the second goal came at the stroke of the 75th minute when Ryan Sessegnon’s rebounded shot found Kane who netted his 42nd goal in the London derby.
Aleksandar Mitrovic provided a late scare with a beautiful curling effort but the host kept their nerves still with a solid display for the remainder of the match.
Richarlison was denied a late goal as he was in an offside position during the buildup and The Hard Tackle runs the rule over Carlo Ancelotti’s men.
Hugo Lloris: 6.5/10
The Spurs custodian had a rather comfortable evening in the goal as Fulham had very little to offer. He made some smart moves in the penalty box and was called in to deny Mitrovic’s late effort which was sneaking into the top corner.
Cristian Romero: 6/10
The Argentine defender remained sharp throughout the game but he was partly responsible for Mitrovic’s goal as he should have paved away the forward with a sharp tackle.
Eric Dier: 6.5/10
The defender dealt with the threat with no caution except on one or two occasions. Should have found his name on the scoresheet as his shot flew over the goal.
Clement Lenglet: 7/10
Didn’t panic in his first full Spurs debut and was calm and composed as he neutralised the threat of Mitrovic almost during the entire game.
Ryan Sessegnon: 8.5/10
The former Fulham player replaced Ivan Perisic in the team and did full justice to his role. He was pretty threatening on the left flanks as his marauding runs on the wings gave the Fulham defenders some real food for thought.
Emerson Royal: 7/10
The former Barcelona man was on point with his defensive acumen but he needs to work on his crossing as it was pretty poor and didn’t have any impact on the attacking outlet.
Pierre-Emile Hojberg: 8/10
The Danish midfielder covered each blade of grass on his home turf and was pretty errorless in the game. The goal came as a result of his sheer hard work.
Rodrigo Bentancur: 8/10
Bentancur dictated the tempo of the game with some smooth distribution and got to make some defensive work with his tireless effort in the middle of the pitch.
Harry Kane: 9/10
The Spurs skipper had another eventful day as he is now the third-highest goal scorer in Premier League history. The Tottenham number 10 complemented his game with a goal as he has now added five goals to his tally this term.
Heung-min Son: 8/10
Son linked up well with his other two forward partners and saw a goal ruled out for offside. He worked pretty solid in the attacking third and was unlucky not to find the back of the net.
Richarlison: 9/10
The Brazilian bullied and outmuscled the Fulham defenders and was involved in the Spurs’ opener. He was pretty unlucky as he was denied a goal for offside.
Substitutes
Dejan Kulusevski: 6/10
Didn’t have the desired time to make an impact.
