Match Thread Vs Fulham

What an odd 1st half. Fulham came straight at us and stayed there, credit to them. We score 2 sublime goals and 3 players laid low. Scotty Parker laid low by a snidey flailing ginger elbow (watch it in slo-mo - vicious). Kaboul through being brave & the Fulham lad twisted and looked in agony. 2 to the good so lets hope the 2nd half we stay strong & add to our goal difference. COYS . . ..

second half we look poor and the passing is terrible , there no running off the ball its all long balls we do look poor cos we are letting them put to much pressure on us the 2 goal lead has made us sit back i still think we will win it 3-1

That will have done Arry a power of good lol - how the hell did Fulham not get a point at least ? What an afternoon for Friedel - easy MoM

How on earth did we win if i was a Fulham fan i would be p*ssed off Big Bald Brad in net Gomes who ?

The players just didn't get it together and your right just one of those games all teams play like that from time to time, i hear harry wont be back at spurs for 5 weeks

Fulham 1 - 3 Tottenham


Bale celebrates with his team-mates after Tottenham's first goal ( I love this piccy. It shows a team that is happy together and playing for eachother & enjoying the experience)

Tottenham overcame the absence of manager Harry Redknapp to seal a seventh win in eight league games.

Redknapp was absent as he recovered at home after undergoing heart surgery.

Gareth Bale was credited with the first goal after his powerful shot deflected off Chris Baird before Aaron Lennon's clinical finish doubled the advantage.

An own goal by Younes Kaboul, after Ledley King headed against his back, set up a grandstand finish but Jermain Defoe secured victory in stoppage time.

FULHAM Vs TOTTENHAM


Possession


Fulham 53% Tottenham 47%


Attempts on target


Fulham 20 Tottenham 8


Attempts off target


Fulham 6 Tottenham 0


Corners


Fulham 11 Tottenham 1


Fouls


Fulham 5 Tottenham 9

fulham out play as. yes the same players minus johnson who all played thursday while our boys had a rest.

451
vdv invisible ade gone 6 games without a goal
thats wigan and newcastle blackburn and now fulham we was hanging on

Friedel - 9 (Classy display)

Walker- 7 (was ok but needs to improve on his positioning)
Kaboul - 8 played well so many good headers

King - 7 (struggled aganst zomore strengh
Ekotto - 7 (looked assured as usual)

Lennon - 6.5 (Overall his performance was a 6 but great goal)
Modric - 6 played okay
Parker - 7.5 (good display and some great effort and last ditch blocks)
Bale - 7 (First half a 7.5 but wasn't involved 2nd)

VDV - 3 was awfull. nowhwere near ade
Adebayor - 6.5 (first half veery good but not a good 2nd. Great effort throughout though).


Subs :

Sandro - 6
Defoe - 7

win ugly it a mark of a great team in the making, it was a poor performance going forward but defensively we held firm king put in some exceptional blocks and friedel was magnificent today world class , and that's what makes a great team, its not all about attack its being able to defend hats of to king & friedel

yea i get whay your saying but we keep doing this.

that fulham team played on thursday night. why did our midfeild and forwards look so tired

I don't know , i think the team as a whole fear arry, him not being around could have something to do with it perhaps the players played without fear of losing today whereas normally they play with the fear of losing and being dropped

bale ade parker vdv will never ever get dropped

parker looked off today after that tosser caught him.

451 away at big teams or when we need to close a game out.

How in the name of Lucifer did we come away with three points?
I thought thursdays second half performance was poor beyond belief but I think that just topped it. I cant remember seeing us give away the ball so much.. Simple 5 yard passes were going to them..Still, the brief was to get three points and we did, isn't that supposed to be the sign of a good team?
A massive turnout at Craven Cottage as usual, we were supposed to have 3,000 official tickets but there was more of us than that. Usually a great day out, but the effort of the second half kind of spoilt it. It was nervous stuff

i dont know how we won that game, but when we had chances we scored, that was the difference. I hate those scrambled type goals which teams just try to bunbled into the goal from a few yards, and that personifies teams like fulham, qpr did the same last week, so although they played well they deserved to lose with such poor quality players up front, i know it sounds harsh. But at the end of the day, if were winning by not playing at our best, thats a great sign. Adebayor did look very lazy/tired maybe, but he held up the ball well a few times but his passing was way off, same with parker although his work rate is exellent his passing is suspect at times. Modric worked his socks off and couldnt play his usual game but defending great and probably got us the 3 points along side friedel who was my motm.

I have always been a bit sceptical about "it is a good team that can get a result when they are not playing well" - if you are playing below your standard then that rough lights not more than inconsistency - it is certainly not a plus

Seems to me a side that picks up pointsin games they may not deserve can expect to follow that with a few performances where they drop points they might have deserved

Tottenham Hotspur overcame the absence of manager Harry Redknapp to seal a seventh win in eight league games.

Redknapp was missing as he recovered at home after undergoing heart surgery.

Gareth Bale was credited with the first goal after his powerful shot deflected off Chris Baird before Aaron Lennon's clinical finish doubled the advantage.

An own goal by Younes Kaboul, after Ledley King headed against his back, set up a grandstand finish but Jermain Defoe secured victory in stoppage time.

Redknapp's health will not exactly have been helped by a number of goalmouth scrambles in front of Brad Friedel's goal in the closing stages, but Defoe's clinical finish with virtually the last kick of the game made it a good day for the north London outfit, who moved level on points with Chelsea in the Premier League table.

Having scored 17 times in their previous seven league games, Tottenham have found goals easy to come by this season and they took the lead with their first noteworthy attack in the 10th minute.

Kyle Walker's burst down the right ended with a lay-off to Lennon, and his cross was pushed by Mark Schwarzer into the path of Bale.

The Wales international's powerful effort from an angle struck Baird, who could do little about stopping the ball cannoning off him into the net.

Fulham are now just one point above the relegation zone but it was a cruel scoreline for Jol's team.

At the other end Friedel had to be at his best to keep out efforts from John Arne Riise and Clint Dempsey.

Tottenham's hard-earned win was summed up by Scott Parker, who battled on after being caught by what appeared to be an accidental Steve Sidwell elbow in the 20th minute.

England boss Fabio Capello looked on concerned as England international Parker received lengthy treatment for a nose wound, but he was able to carry on.

Capello, however, will have been impressed with Lennon's finish on the stroke of half-time which put Spurs in command.

The winger, who has not played for England since the 2010 World Cup, exchanged passes with Bale and burst down the left before cutting inside the area, wrong footing Baird and firing across Schwarzer.

Fulham were not helped by the loss of Zdenik Grygera, who was given oxygen as he left the pitch on a stretcher with what appeared to be a serious knee injury.

But Jol's side showed spirit in the second half wtih Friedel producing a one-handed stop to keep out Brede Hangeland's 52nd-minute header before Kaboul's own goal gave the home side hope.

Kaboul was helpless as King's headed clearance from a corner cannoned off his team-mate and over the line in the 57th minute.

Fulham piled on the pressure in the closing stages.

In a chaotic goalmouth scramble, Kyle Walker appeared to handle the ball inside his own area while man-of-the-match Friedel again produced an excellent one-handed stop to deny Moussa Dembele.

In addition, Luka Modric making a clearance off the line to deny Dempsey.

Tottenham scored their third deep into stoppage time as substitute Defoe fired home low via a slight deflection from Emmanuel Adebayor's cut-back to wrap up the points.

Fulham's former Tottenham manager Martin Jol:
"I thought we deserved at least a point. Tottenham had three attempts on goal in the first half and scored two goals.

"We must have had 26 or 30 attempts after half-time. He (Friedel) was probably the best player on the pitch, but if you don't score then you have a problem.

"Of course I heard the applause from the Tottenham fans. But I don't want to make a meal of it. I'm happy here."

Tottenham winger Gareth Bale:
"It's always nice to score and keep the run going. I am claiming the goal. I've seen it a few times and it's definitely my goal.

"We knew how hard it was going to be. Fulham played very well and put us under the cosh, but we showed our character.

"In recent years we would have conceded more in the second half, but we have belief in ourselves."

FAST FACT
Tottenham have suffered only three league defeats since April of this year - all three against the two Manchester clubs.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Dutch forward Rafael Van Der Vaart has played down suggestions they could compete for the Premier League title.

Since defeats to Man United and Man City in their opening fixtures, Spurs have gone eight games unbeaten leaving them in fifth position with a game in hand, which if won could put them third.

But the talismanic star reckons the players are only focussed on getting themselves back into the top four and consequently the Champions League.

“We didn’t play like somebody who wants to win the title,” said van der Vaart after his side's 3-1 win over Fulham. “When we play well, like last week [against QPR] then we have a fantastic team.

“Today we fought until the end but Fulham were the better team, that’s football and if we can keep on winning these kind of games then we have a good chance to be in the top four.

“Our ambition is to finish in the top four, we’ve always had that.

“We had so much luck but I have to say I was quite happy with this game because last season we lost this kind of game and now we win them.

“It’s a pity for Fulham, especially for the Dutch coach Martin Jol but I think we were very lucky today.”