Fulham captain Tom Cairney enjoyed an eventful outing as the midfielder earned the visitors a Premier League point before being sent off against Tottenham Hotspur.
Cairney struck in the second half to cancel out Brennan Johnson’s opener and vault Fulham back into the top half. But the veteran skipper was subsequently dismissed for an unpleasant challenge on Dejan Kulusevski, placing his studs into the back of the Swede’s calf and being shown a straight red card after a review from the video assistant referee (VAR).
It was a frustrating afternoon for Ange Postecoglou and his side, who were sloppy and failed to create consistent chances. So impressive a week ago against Manchester City, their hopes of challenging for a Champions League place is being undermined with inconsistency, with Postecoglou forced to defend his approach this week, declaring himself “not interested in pragmatism”.
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Jack Rathborn1 December 2024 15:52
Tottenham Hotspur vs Fulham
Ten-man Fulham hung on to draw 1-1 with Tottenham in North London, as they survived a late barrage of attacks to take a point back to West London. After a goalless first half saw Iwobi smack the bar and Maddison fire onto the post from a free-kick, the second period brought a more decisive threat. Despite Fulham admittedly looking the stronger of the two, Spurs snatched the lead in the 54th minute. Werner did well to jink into the left side of the box before floating over a stand-up ball to Johnson. He brought it down well and slammed past Leno against the run of play. Fulham called on support from their bench and Cairney’s involvement ultimately became headline-grabbing. He emerged to take the captain’s armband from Robinson before 67 minutes saw him latch onto an Iwobi byline ball and fire past Forster inside the right post. It was a superb curling effort, yet one that would unfortunately be undermined by his final input. A raking challenge down the back of Kulusevski’s leg saw an initial yellow card turn red, and the Scottish international was off after just 20 minutes from his arrival. The 0.65 xG Spurs pushed on, yet a defensively stubborn Fulham survived with a point, although their xG of 1.16 alluded to earlier dominance. Spurs now sit seventh, while Fulham are tenth. Thank you for joining us, we hope you enjoyed the game.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Fulham
On the second viewing, Gray was hobbling off. But still, it does smack of desperation.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Fulham
How bizarre is this? Substitution for a substitute! Archie Gray is taken off for Will Lankshear to go and battle for a winner.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Fulham
Fulham are operating with six at the back! Son drives to the left byline again, yet Leno gratefully claims his cross again.