Tottenham Hotspur   2    Fulham   0      (Half-time score : 1-0)

  1  Gomes

22  Corluka
26  King (c)
20  Dawson      
  3  Bale

14  Modric
  8  Jenas
12  Palacios
  5  Bentley  

18  Defoe  (10  Keane  82)  
15  Crouch  

Unused subs: 
27  Alnwick
  2  Hutton
19  Bassong
  8  Jenas
24  O'Hara
25  Rose 

  1  Schwarzer

18  Hughes
  5  Hangeland
26  Smalling
  6  Baird

16  Duff
13  Murphy  (c)
34  Dikgacoi
17  Riise  (29  Davies  64)
11  Gera  (15  Kamara  72      )

25  Zamora  (35  Elm  79)

Unused subs: 

19  Zuberbuhler
10  Nevland
27  Greening
33  Kallio

Crouch 27
Bentley 60

None

    
Dawson (foul)  87

    
Kamara (foul)   89

it looked for all the world that it would be yet another game where the oppo's keeper would play out of his skin, but we know Schwarzer better than that.  His ability was put to the test in the opening stages, with Huddlestone's low drive from the edge of the box inside the first minute saw the keeper plunge to his right to keep the ball out at the foot of his post.  Tom let fly a couple of minutes later, but hit the keeper with his straight shot.

There was a scare on 12 minutes, as Gomes had to rush from his line to thwart Bobby Zamora as he ran onto a ball just inside the edge of the area.  Three minutes of treatment was needed to get the Brazilian goalie working again, with his right arm being held tenderly.  It looked like Fulham might target Heurelho's weak side, but they didn't get a shot on target in the rest of the first half.

It was a surprise when the Spurs goal came, as the play had become untidy with misplaced passes and niggly fouls, but a cross from David Bentley from the right wing saw Schwarzer challenge Peter Crouch in the air, but fail to get a decent hand to the ball, leaving it to travel behind him.  Bjorn Helge Riise tried to run the ball out, but Luka Modric was alive to the possibilities and nicked it back over the Norwegian's head before it went out and slid a low ball to the near post, where Crouch was on hand to prod home over the diving Schwarzer.  27 minutes in and Spurs were a goal to the good.

Spurs were left chasing possession at times, with Fulham passing neatly between their players, but they did not make any progression with the ball and Tottenham were actively closing down the red shirted opponents, forcing them into making mistakes.  A header down by Crouch was slashed over the top on the volley by Tommy and then into injury time, Luka bamboozled Hughes just inside the penalty area and then curled a shot that went a bit too high and rippled the roof of the net.

The half-time interval passed without any changes in personnel, so the game re-started and Tottenham were soon on the attack, with Palacios playing the ball wide to Bentley and then raced into the box to meet his cross with a header that was too straight and went wide, when he needed to get an angle on his effort to hit the target.  In the 53rd minute, Duff hit a shot straight at Gomes, who held it easily. 

In the 59th minute, Gareth Bale, who had another fine game, raced forward and between Aaron Hughes and Riise they stopped his progress and a free-kick was given about five yards outside the left corner of the penalty area.  Tom Huddlestone wanted to take it, but he walked off to leave it to Bentley.  Previously, he had failed to beat the first man with a couple of corners and crosses, but this time doing so wasn't a drawback.  He hit the head of the last man on the wall - Riise again - and the ball looped away to Schwarzer's left, leaving him leaden footed and having no chance of saving so it was 2-0 to Tottenham.

It was more or less all Spurs, with Modric's cross hitting a defender and changing the course of the ball to see it drop just wide of the far post.  Then Bentley tried a shot that was deflected for a corner and following that he hit a free-kick on target, but not far enough away or with enough pace to trouble the Fulham goalie.  With 15 minutes left, Bentley put a free-kick onto Dawson's head at the near post, but the centre-half nodded wide when well placed.

The decidedly average Dikgacoi managed to get a shot on goal, but it flew just over the bar and substitute Kamara slid a shot across goal when running in from their right side, but Gomes was not forced to save, as he had his angles worked out, as he did with the same player's shot a few minutes later.  Spurs were seeing the game out better than they had against Leeds and the only threat late on came when Smalling crashed into Gomes, who grabbed a corner and then came crashing down flat on his back.  More treatment saw him carry on for the remaining few minutes.

Even the presence of ex-Spurs Zamora, Murphy and Simon Davies could not inspire Fulham to any great heights and while they have some players out through injury, so had Spurs.  It didn't need a great deal to beat Fulham in truth and when they once broke through in the second half, Dikagcoi had a shooting opportunity from the right hand side of the penalty area, but he smashed the ball straight in front of him, even though he was about two yards wide of the goal.

Duff was playing like he did for Newcastle last season and Zamora showed the lack of touch that is familiar when players come back from injury.  Davies was busy when he came on, but too often Murphy got caught on the ball or had passes picked off, although when not under pressure he showed he could still pray the ball around and make the team tick.

Harry got things just right.  Bentley played better than he has usually done in a Spurs shirt.  He lacks the pace or trickery to get past the full back in front of him, but he can put in dangerous crosses, even from a standing position.  His free-kick is being generously awarded to his account for the goal, but I think the keeper would have had it covered if it had gone where Bentley intended.

Forty points in the bag, it means that milestone one has been achieved for the season and now, hopefully the team can push on to cement a top six finish.  Anything more than that - especially with the April fixtures to come - would be great.

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