Tottenham Hotspur   0    Fulham   0      (Half-time score : 0-0)

Robinson

Chimbonda
Dawson
King (c)
Assou-Ekotto

Jenas
Zokora
Murphy (Davids 80)
Tainio (Defoe 70)

Keane
Mido

Unused subs:
Cerny
Y.P. Lee
Huddlestone 
 

Niemi

Rosenior
Pearce
Knight
Queudrue

Volz
Brown
Bocanegra
Boa Morte (c) (Radzinski 77)

McBride (Helguson 66)
John (Runstrom 82)

Unused subs: 
Lastuvka
Claus Jensen
 

None

None

     
Chimbonda (diving) 43
Mido (handball) 49
Murphy (foul) 67 

     
Boa Morte (foul) 44
Bocanegra (foul) 51
 

With a Fulham side, who looked less likely to score than us, the game should have been a winnable one, but the lack of movement and clinical passing lead to few clear cut chances being carved out.  Mido struck the post from a narrow angle and Niemi saved well from Assou-Ekotto and Defoe, before a ball did beat him from a far post Chimbonda header, but Boa Morte was there to head off the line.

With all the chances and corners Spurs had, they rarely threatened the goal seriously, leaving the Fulham keeper with a relatively quiet afternoon.  His defence in front of him did well and the Cottagers pulled as many midfielders back to help them out too.  This provided safety in numbers, which Spurs lacked the wit and pace to break down.  Too often the ball was held up and knocked back, without the outlet of Aaron Lennon to speed down the wing.

It was a little disjointed in approach from Tottenham, but some sloppy play they demonstrated might have left them even worse off.  In the first minute Jermaine Jenas gave a loose pass, much to the groans of the Spurs crowd, then Didier Zokora had to nick the ball away from Queudrue just as he was about to shoot.  Then the defence backed off Brown, leaving Michael Dawson to block his shot.  Then Clattenburg (yes ... that Clattenburg) failed to call a foul on Zokora and John got a shot on goal, which Robbo got down for.

I thought that perhaps the UEFA Cup tie and the travelling had taken it's toll, but in a prolonged spell of pressure, Spurs started to rack up the corner count, but couldn't get past the massed ranks of the Fulham back line.  Keane had a volley blocked, then was beaten to the ball after he chested down Jenas' pass.  Mido spun onto Chimbonda's cross and his shot was blocked, while Tainio hit a volley well wide as Spurs looked for a break-through.  It nearly came when Jeans put a low ball into the edge fo the area to Tainio and his swinging shot was dragged wide of the right hand post by a yard or two, when he could have caught out Niemi if it had been on target.

Dawson was making a nuisance of himself at set-pieces and missed narrowly when he had a shot from Jenas' low cross and then headed a free-kick from the same midfielder wide.  While many see only bad in Jenas, he was having an effective match on the right wing, producing another quality cross which found Benoit at the far post, where he cut inside onto his right foot and hit a low shot that Antti Niemi kept out with his chest.

Clattenburg had decided the time had come to dish out a few cards.  Chimbonda fell over as he ran through and Clattenburg showed him a yellow for diving, which I think refs should do if they decide there had nto been contact ... as long as he is consistent over the season, I will be happy with that.  To even things up within a minute, he had cautioned Boa Morte. 

In my view Clattenburg is one fo the poorest refs in the Premiership.  Some issues that reinforce my view are ...
His lack of yellow card for Queudrue pushing Zokora right in front of him
Letting Boa Morte walk off towards the half-way line, when being substituted, instead of leaving the pitch by the nearest point.  I am afraid I don't pay good money to see someone walk fifty yards ... even if he did have a fractured cheekbone
His desire to play advantage (which is a good thing), but he is inept in not being able to do it in practice (or the real thing come to that)
The way he holds yellow cards up to the recipient ... it's like he has just picked them out of a smelly toilet as he deigns to touch them with just two fingers

He did blow the whistle for half-time well and the two teams trooped off for their respective team-talks.  Did they go something like this ... ?

Jol "Carry on playing like you are and the goals will come.  Get the ball out wide and aim for Mido's head."

Coleman "Get everyone back behind the ball.  If we get to into their half, take it to the corner flag."

And so it proves, but Spurs could not get the goal.  They got a yellow card when Mido dived in to try and head a cross in, but stuck his hand out and Clattenburg considered that it was a deliberate attempt to cheat.  To balance things up, a minute later Bocanegra was booked for a cynical foul on Murphy.

When Fulham broke down the right wing in the 54th minute, it was like Andy Johnson's goal all over again.  However, this time Dawson made a timely tackle to stop McBride getting there first.  When play moved to the Fulham goal, Tainio floated a cross out to the left and Mido ran in and lashed his shot fiercely at goal.  Unfortunately, the shot bounced back off the post, with Niemi looking shocked.

A confrontation between Zokora and Queudrue happened when the ex-Boro man declared that our Ivorian had thrown himself, rather than the defender putting a leg out to impair his progress.  Defoe touched the ball aside to Assou-Ekotto, with the left back's left-footed shot flying not too far over the top.

After 66 minutes, Clattenburg showed a yellow card to Danny Murphy for his foul on Rosenior.  This time Clattenburg decided not to even things up.

Robinson was nearly caught out, when Queudrue struck a 45 yard free-kick towards one side of the goal, as Paul had drifted to the other side and had it been on target, I am not sure the England number one would have got to it.

As the game went on, the chances became fewer for Tottenham, with Defoe hitting a free-kick well wide, but then the best opportunity, when a long Keane corner was headed back at the far post by Pascal Chimbonda, with Boa Morte rising to head the ball off the goal-line, when it looked like it might creep in near the top corner.  The Portuguese player ended up with a fractured cheekbone, which was a shame.  Jermain Defoe tested the Fulham goalkeeper again, when he hit an early shot to force Niemi to dive low at his post.

The goalie's task was easier as the clocked ticked towards injury time, when Dawson rose high to head at goal from just on the edge fo the box, but could not test the Finn.  Then it was Robinson's turn to keep the ball out.  In the 88th minute, Radzinski's left wing run went unchallenged and his square pass to Volz was struck cleanly and firmly, bringing out a good save to beat the ball out by Robbo.  However, without goals of our own, we will always be susceptible to the late effort that might take all the points off us.

The final agony was deep into injury time, as Zokora put a free-kick to the far post and King jumped t o head the ball, but only succeeded in taking it away from Chimbonda, who was coming in behind him with a good run on the ball.

It proved to be a frustrating afternoon in more ways than one.  Michael Brown came back to run around knocking people over, get in people's face and to take the ball into the corner flag near the end of the match.  Spurs' midfield lacked a cohesive blend.  Assou-Ekotto moved up to take the left side passes, while the others changed places well, but there was not the fluidity that we saw last season.  I thought Jenas had a good game, as did Zokora.  Up front, both Keano and Mido struggled, but the defence stood firm and played pretty well as a unit.

With an away trip to Anfield next up, it will be another test of how we can bounce back.