| Match report
There are two sorts of support
at football matches these days. There is the traditional vocal
based support and there is the manufactured atmosphere of piped
music, orchestrated chanting and supporting aids. There is a
third, but that is the exclusive domain of the Library, where fans
have taken a vow of silence for 90 minutes every other weekend.
The two main styles were in evidence today and they reflected the
two teams playing out the game. One was instinctive and
positive, the other, not sure when to put it into operation and
style over substance. That Tottenham ran out 3-0 winners
thanks to another Harry Kane hat-trick, you can probably work out
the best fit for the above.
Those annoying plastic
covered folded paper clappers were all over the home supporting
areas. In an attempt to make them like Leicester (obviously
hoping for last season's version rather than this one's), the
Cottage fans slapped them as hard as they could to try to scare
their team into playing some football. And this was adults as
well as kids. Shameful. Anyway, it failed brilliantly,
as their side were caught between two stools and effected neither
very well. It is hard to see how Fulham are eighth in the
Championship, but they must play better than this.
As is now widely regarded as
the way to play against Spurs, it is to get in our faces and close
the player and the space. Fulham failed to do that.
Alternatively, you go the way Wycombe did and play direct into the
Spurs box, where we are not the greatest at defending set-pieces or
aerial attacks. The home side were not good at that either.
In fact, their clearest chance came when Michel Vorm passed the ball
straight to Cairney on the corner of the box in the 20th minute.
The Scot took his low shot first time, but it was a tame effort and
Michel got back to dive and gather the ball in to deny the
midfielder. It almost led to a Tottenham goal, as a ball from
Vorm to Trippier was played down the line to Kane and his cross was
just gathered by Bettinielli before Dele got there. Not that
the Fulham keeper was blameless, as three minutes before half-time,
he presented the ball with a weak pass to Kane on the edge of the
box and as Harry tried to shape for a shot, Johansen managed to get
back and nick it off him.
But by then Tottenham should
have been out of sight, as they created chance after chance by
carving through the Fulham defence. It started as early as the
fourth minute, when Wanyama headed forward, Kane and Dele headed it
on and Eriksen got onto the ball moving into the box and his
toe-poked effort was just tipped wide by the goalkeeper. Then
Dele swept a shot from the edge of the area a foot wide minutes
later, while Toby ventured forward for a corner and almost scored
with a flick of his heel, but Malone blocked his effort.
Fulham were under relentless pressure, as they were failing to clear
the ball. Winks and Wanyama were winning possession and with
Toby and Jan back in tandem, the defence looked very solid.
There was not out ball for Fulham, who tried to use the pace of
Aluko and Aitye, but they were usually eased off the ball.
Ten minutes had gone before
the home team's first effort at goal, with a corner knocked out to
20 yard from goal, where Malone hit it, but the ball was always
going wide. Malone had a bit of a stinker after he had been
getting good reviews. His passing along the side-line usually
finished off it and he was at fault when Tottenham did eventually
take the lead. A pass a yard in front of him saw him give up
on it and when the throw was taken quickly by Trippier, Malone was
out of position to track Eriksen's run on the right wing.
Taking the cross early on the half volley, it was well placed for
Harry Kane to stretch out a left leg to get across his marker and
beat Bettinelli at his near post from just inside the six yard box.
It was a well made goal and well taken by Harry, who needed a goal,
as did Spurs, with two bad results behind them and a strike to
settle the nerves was definitely required.
Spurs pressed straight from
the kick off and got the ball, played it back to Toby and his ball
through the middle found Dele's run, but the midfielder could not
quite get the ball under control, otherwise it could have been a
very quick-fire double. Winks started and finished a move that
saw Trippier's cross headed straight upwards by the little
midfielder, which was followed by Johansen hacking Kieran down and
it handed Eriksen a chance to score from a dead ball situation, but
he hit the wall. He got to the rebound, but kicked the ball
into the ground and it went wide without troubling the goalie.
Kane shot too high, Winks got the ball in the net after a blocked
shot but Kane had been offside, then the striker hit a shot that was
deflected wide.
Spurs were managing
possession very well, with long passages of passes up and down and
across the pitch, with Fulham happy to allow us the space to play
in, but there were a couple of incidents just before the break when
Vertonghen got caught under a high bal land it bounced off him
ending with Johansen driving a volley well wide and then Malone
crossed across the face of goal and Ayite could not reach it on the
slide and then Aluko got a shot on target, but it was not difficult
for Vorm to pluck the shot out of the air.
After the break, it was
business as usual, with Harry Winks feeding Trippier, who set up
Eriksen to shoot, but it was deflected straight to Bettinelli.
When Harry and Kieran linked up again, the ball was laid into
Christian's path to cross low into the near post and Harry Kane got
in front of his marker - Tim Ream - to guide a volley under the
keeper from close range to double the lead. Ream and Johansen
were looking daggers at the linesman, but he might just have got it
right, as there was no daylight between Kane and Ream as the ball
came in. The only fault was Ream's in standing still, whereas
Kane was on the move and got there first.
Spurs were causing all sorts
of problems. Son bundled his way through two challenges in the
box before losing the ball, Christian Eriksen hit the wall with
another free-kick and then Kane stumbled through three tackles
before the ball ran away from him as he looked to be in on goal.
Fulham brought on wonder-kid Ryan Sessignon to try and liven things
up for them, but he had limited impact on the game. Just
before the hour, the third goal should have come as Dele started a
move that went through Son and Eriksen, whose cross landed on Dele's
boot in front of goal, but he got right under it at a difficult
height and it flew over. Alli was also denied by the keeper
when Eriksen's run into the box saw the ball run kindly into the
keeper's hands rather than Dele's run.
With twenty minutes left,
Kane had the chance for his hat-trick, but from Dele's lifted ball
over the defence, he lifted his shot too high as Bettenelli came off
his line and it went agonisingly over the bar. The same
happened at the other end as McDonald met a corner and dived in with
a header, which cleared the goal and almost immediately, Spurs went
3-0 ahead and it was that man Kane again. Wanyama won a header
in midfield, Eriksen played the ball to Dele, who played a first
time pass into the path of Kane, running past his marker, to take it
on and slot it past the goalie's left hand to round off his
hat-trick. They were all typical striker's goals, showing an
instinct that is one of Kane's strengths.
The goal brought Scott
Parker into the action, with a great reception from the Spurs
contingent, but they might not have been too happy if the Fulham
captain's header from a corner had beaten Vorm, but luckily for
Spurs it was straight at our Dutch keeper and the offside flag was
waved anyway. There was time for a good little cameo by
Sissoko, who showed good strength and running with the ball, coupled
with a good sense of picking out the best pass. He was set up
by Son, with his shot forcing the keeper to push it away and then
Wanyama forced Bettinelli to save and when the ball was played wide
to Trippier, his cross was pinpoint on Son's head, but the Korean
put it over from five yards out.
It was what turned out to be
a very professional performance by Spurs, leaving Fulham bamboozled
by their passing and movement. Better final balls and
finishing could have brought double figures with a more productive
return from 23 shots and only getting seven on target. Kane
showed how it should be done, but missed another hat-trick in
chances, while Dele and Son should have found the net too.
Defensively, it was concentration rather than being constantly
tested, but having Toby and Jan back together will give them more
confidence. Dele was better today, getting involved and Son
worked hard, while Sissoko and Winks were outstanding.
Millwall will be up next in
a run similar to the one in 1982, when we didn't leave London in a
run to the semi-final. But the quarter final will be between
Europa League Round of 16 games should we manage to get past Gent on
Thursday, so that takes priority at the moment and a performance
like this might realise the result we want from our Wembley date.
Peter Martins |
