Fulham shattered by late Spurs winner
Fulham 1 Tottenham 2
Substitute Lewis Holtby’s late strike condemned unlucky Fulham to a losing start to Rene Meulensteen’s reign.
A much-changed, much-improved Whites team looked to be heading for victory when Ashkan Dejagah scored 11 minutes into the second half after being set up by Dimitar Berbatov.
But Vlad Chiriches and then Holtby both netted from 25 yards to give Tottenham a dramatic win.
It was rough on Fulham, whose defeat is their sixth in a row and came despite them dominating periods of the game.
Berbatov, restored to the starting line-up by new boss Meulensteen, had two chances in a frenetic first half in which Jermain Defoe had an early shot from the edge of the penalty area well saved by Fulham keeper Maarten Stekelenburg.
Former Spurs striker Berbatov, keen to move in January according to his agent, mis-controlled after being put through by Alex Kacaniklic, enabling keeper Hugo Lloris to gather the ball.
The Bulgarian’s inclusion was one of seven changes made by Meulensteen.
In came the likes of Giorgos Karagounis, who had a stinging shot saved by Lloris, Dejagah and Philippe Senderos, while John Arne Riise – an outcast under sacked manager Martin Jol – was given his first start since August.
They began strongly and another opportunity fell to Berbatov when he was found by Pajtim Kasami’s cross, but he was denied at point-blank range by Lloris’ fine save.
Fulham again went close to scoring when an unchallenged Dejagah headed over from Karagounis’ left-wing corner.
Spurs remained a threat on the counter attack, with Paulinho and Erik Lamela both missing the target after being teed up by Defoe.
Lamela then forced an excellent 41st-minute stop from Stekelenburg, who pushed over his 25-yard drive.
But the visitors faded after the break and Fulham took full advantage when Michael Dawson gave the ball away cheaply.
Berbatov was alert, sweeping a glorious pass out to the waiting Dejagah and the Iranian took a touch before firing into the bottom corner.
Chiriches equalised on 73 minutes and Fulham were unable to hit back after Holtby’s left-footed effort, with Lloris saving from Bryan Ruiz and Kasami.
Fulham: Stekelenburg, Riether, Hughes, Senderos, Riise, Karagounis (Sidwell 61), Parker (Ruiz 87), Kasami, Dejagah, Kacaniklic (Duff 85), Berbatov.
Subs not used: Stockdale, Taarabt, Zverotic, Boateng.
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05/12/2013 @ 10:16 am
I watched this engrossing match but I am baffled by this David McIntyre saying Fulham dominated large parts of the game. Did he mean Spurs as they had far more possession than the whites. Statistics prove that. Fulham played well – yes – but they lacked in quality that is abundant in the spurs team. That is an indisputable fact.