Many thanks to Declan Mulcahy for this report:-
Sunday 16 March 2025, 1:30pm
Premier League
Fulham (0) 2 Tottenham Hotspur (0) 0
Scorers:-
Muniz, 78
Sessegnon, 88
Fulham (4-2-3-1): Marco Silva
1 B Leno; 21 T Castagne, 5 J Andersen, 3 C Bassey, 33 A Robinson (c);
18 Andreas Pereira 16 S Berge; 17 A Iwobi (11 Adama Traore 63), 32 E
Smith Rowe (15 T Cairney 72), 22 Willian (R Sessegnon 87); 7 R Jimenez
(9 Rodrigo Muniz 63).
Subs not used: 23 S Benda, 15 Jorge Cuenca, 6 H Reed, 24 J King, 47 M Godo
No bookings
Captain's Armband: Robinson (Cairney 72)
Tottenham Hotspur (4-3-3):
1 G Vicario, 24 D Spence, 17 C Romero (c) (10 J Maddison 68), 33 B
Davies, 13 D Udogie; 30 R Bentancur (44 D Scarlett 86), 14 A Gray, 8 Y
Bissouma (15 L Bergvall 45); 22 B Johnson (7 H-M Son 45), 19 D
Solanke, 11 M Tel (28 W Odobert 77).
Subs not used: 31 A Kinsky, 23 Pedro Porro, 37 M van de Ven, 29 P Sarr
No bookings
Captain's Armband: Romero (Son 45)
Craven Cottage, Attendance: 27,182
Referee: Andy Madley, Assistant Referees: Nick Hopton, Craig Taylor,
Fourth Official: Simon Hooper, VAR: Paul Tierney, Assistant VAR: Adam Nunn
Rodrigo Muniz returns to haunt Spurs
Thanks to Andy Park for this picture
There was a sense of deja vu today. A year ago today on Saturday 16
March 2024 Spurs visited Craven Cottage and lost 3-0, ending a
sequence of 39 games in which they scored in every game. Two of
Fulham's three goals were scored by Rodrigo Muniz. Today Muniz started
on the bench. He was introduced just after an hour and within fifteen
minutes had given Fulham the lead. The outcome was another
unsatisfactory result at Craven Cottage.
Spurs had played well on Thursday evening against AZ Alkmaar to
progress into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League. Ange
Postecoglou made seven changes from Thursday's team with Udogie,
Davies, Bentancur, Gray, Bissouma, Johnson and Tel replacing Porro,
van de Ven, Sarr, Bergvall, Maddison, Odobert and Son. A couple of
the changes made sense with van de Ven being rested and Bentancur
returning from suspension. However it seemed to be an excessive number
of changes given that it was the last match before the international
break.
The team Postecoglou sent out was decidedly unimpressive during the
first half. Changes were made at the interval and things seemed to
improve. However Fulham countered with their own substitutions and
regained the initiative in the final quarter when they scored their
two goals.
Fulham had lost 2-1 away to Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend. Marco
Silva made a tactical change switching from last week's 3-4-2-1 to
4-2-3-1 today. It only involved one personnel change with one of the
back three Diop dropping out and being replaced by Willian, who had
recently joined Fulham again, playing on the wing.
The first half was a disjointed affair which took place mainly in
midfield with lots of misplaced passes.
It can be quickly summarized as follows. Fulham had six shots, five of
which were blocked and one on target. Spurs had one shot which wasn't
on target. Fulham had an xG of 0.36 while Spurs xG was a mere 0.07.
Spurs only shot, after 20 minutes, was when Tel made a good run on the
left and sent a ball towards the far post which Solanke couldn't
reach. About thirteen minutes later an Iwobi effort was cleared by
Davies only as far as Castagne and his shot was saved by Vicario.
Fulham looked the better of the two teams. Spurs were unimpressive
with Bissouma being guilty of some errors. It wasn't a surprise when
Bissouma and Johnson were replaced for the second half by Bergvall and
Son. Johnson had been fairly anonymous during the first half. It
wouldn't be surprising if Bissouma is deemed surplus to requirements
at the end of the season and leaves the club.
Initially the omens were good after the substitutions as Spurs began
to create opportunities. Bergvall crossed the ball from the right
towards the far post and Solanke's header was narrowly wide. Son sent
in a free kick from the left and again Solanke headed it wide. Udogie
sent a dangerous cross across the box but no one could capitalise on
it. A Bergvall shot deflected for a corner.
Just after the hour mark Silva began a series of substitutions all of
which had significance from Spurs perspective. Firstly Muniz and Adama
Traore replaced Jimenez and Iwobi. As noted already Muniz had done the
main damage in the corresponding match a year ago. In March 2023
Traore had scored the only goal when Wolves beat Spurs 1-0 at Molineux.
Tel crossed from the right but Leno saved Davies' header.
Bassey was guilty of a heavy tackle on Tel after the whistle had gone.
It went unpunished. Mr Madley took a very lenient approach throughout
the match and no one was booked though Bassey could well have been for
this tackle.
Maddison replaced Romero which resulted in Gray moving from midfield
to centre back. Tel produced a nice curling shot from the right
towards the far post which was saved by Leno. Then Maddison set up
Solanke but his effort was over the bar. Spurs had now had eight
efforts on goal in the second half without scoring.
Shortly after the 70th minute Tom Cairney replaced Emile Smith Rowe
and took the captain's armband. It was Cairney who scored Fulham's
equaliser in the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in December 2024.
Soon after Muniz had a shot which Vicario punched out. It fell to
Willian whose curling shot was narrowly wide. Fulham now had lots of
possession and were back in contention.
Pereira set up Muniz in the middle of the box and he scored with a
shot to the left corner. Spurs didn't lack players in the box and the
goal was due to poor marking. This was the 14th time this season that
Fulham have scored in the final fifteen minutes of a Premier League game.
Odobert set up Son but his effort was blocked. Bergvall went down in
the box under pressure from Bassey. It was one of those situations
where sometimes a penalty is given and sometimes it isn't. VAR looked
at the incident and decided there was no clear and obvious error. Son
tried to set up Odobert but the latter couldn't reach the ball.
With three minutes remaining Scarlett replaced Bentancur while Ryan
Sessegnon came on for Willian. The latter had a very good match for
Fulham and departed to loud applause. Almost immediately the ball was
played to Sessegnon on the left. Spence was out of position and there
was only Davies on the edge of the box between him and the goal. He
rounded Davies and curled a shot into the top righthand corner of the
net. He didn't celebrate. He did something similar in February against
Wolves in his first Premier League appearance since rejoining Fulham,
when he scored within 58 seconds of coming on. There was a melee in
the dugouts following this goal and a member of the Spurs coaching
staff received a red card.
In the closing minutes Spence made a heavy tackle on Sessegnon which
could have resulted in a booking. The latter had a header saved by
Vicario. Son set up Solanke but his shot was saved by Leno.
In his 200th game as a Premier League manager Marco Silva beat a team
which on paper is superior to his team. In the last three league games
against Spurs he has won two and drawn one, after Spurs had won 14 of
the previous 16 meetings. Fulham are up to eighth place in the table
and could equal their best ever finish of 7th in the Premier League.
Spurs meanwhile are down in 14th position (only goal difference
separates them from 16th). It appears that they will finish in the
bottom half of the table for the first time in fifteen seasons. They
have lost fifteen league matches this season two more than any team in
the top sixteen. Only the bottom four teams have lost more matches.
They are not far off their worst finish in the Premier League which
was 15th in 1994. The last time they lost more Premier League games in
a season was nineteen in 2003-04. With nine matches remaining this
sorry record could be equalled or beaten this season. There are
genuine concerns that Ange Postecoglou doesn't get the best out of his
players in too many matches particularly in the Premier League against
teams who are weaker on paper.
There is now an international break. The first match after will be a
challenging one at Stamford Bridge. Soon after that will come the
vital home and away fixtures against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa
League quarter final.
. Spurs record in recent London Derby League matches
. Squad numbers,appearances,bookings & goalscorers
. Read the preview for this game.
. All the Spurs Stats you could hope for here! THFC6061 Sports Stats
