FootyChatter.com

⚽ Updates from the 8pm GMT kick-off in north London

⚽ Sign up for Football Daily | Top scorers | Email Scott Tottenham were much improved in the second half. Problem is, the bar was set so low it was almost subterranean, because they were abysmal in the first period. Fulham flew out of the blocks and quickly established a two-goal lead that would prove enough. The Cottagers were lively in attack during those early exchanges, albeit assisted by some woeful defending, a practically non-existent Spurs midfield, and an almighty clanger from Vicario. Spurs offered some resistance in the second half, mainly through Mohammed Kudus and Pedro Porro down the right. The former scored a cracker, while Porro put in the hard yards, plus quite a few deliveries that nobody in white managed to get on the end of. He storms off down the tunnel taking his shirt off in the down-to-business style. Penny to be a fly on the dressing-room wall when he tells his team-mates how he sees it. But as bad as Spurs were overall, the visitors deserve their victory, and consolidate 15th spot, moving closer in points terms to mid-table respectability. Marco Silva celebrates. Thomas Frank wears the drained look of a condemned man. The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium erupts in booing. 90 min +3: Danso throws long from the left. Andersen absolutely bashes a header clear. Tete bursts down the right and is tugged back by Kolo Muani. That might be enough to see Fulham over the line. They’re certainly not going to rush over the free kick. 90 min +1: Porro has sent plenty of decent crosses in from the right. Not this time. Straight out for a goal kick. Leno takes his sweet time over the restart and goes into the book. 90 min: There will be four additional minutes. 89 min: Thomas Frank prowls the touchline, gesticulating desperately. How precious an equaliser would be to the under-fire Spurs boss. 88 min: Sky point out that Kevin’s recent shot was Fulham’s first effort on target since Harry Wilson’s sixth-minute goal. It’s been a weird, lop-sided match. 87 min: Castagne replaces Iwobi as Fulham bolster their defence. 86 min: Odobert nearly gets the better of Andersen down the left but settles for a corner. Porro curls it into the six-yard box. Tete clears at the near post. Porro sends it back in, and that’s easy for Leno. 85 min: Tel comes on for Udogie. 84 min: Bentancur slides in on Kevin, just to the left of the Spurs box. Free kick in a dangerous position. Everyone lines up on the edge of the six-yard box. Lukic attempts a cheeky surprise curler towards the bottom left, but doesn’t really connect properly and the ball’s hacked clear. 83 min: Kevin cuts in from the left and has a dig. The shot bobbles in front of Vicario, who smothers. We can also report that the home fans aren’t giving him grief any more. 82 min: Danso flings in long from the right. Bedlam on the edge of the six-yard box. Udogie has a shot. Blocked. The ball falls to Kolo Muani, who has his back to goal but tries to send a dragback into the bottom left. Inches wide! Top improv skills. What a goal that would have been. 80 min: Chukwueze’s first start in a Fulham shirt comes to an end. He’s replaced by Kevin. 79 min: Chukwueze whips a cross in from the left. Jimenez, diving at the far stick, can’t get anywhere near the ball with his head, so flings up both hands and pats it wide right! Into the book he goes. 77 min: Bergvall is replaced by Sarr. 75 min: Fulham have settled down since those changes. Spurs, having worked up a head of steam, are slowing a little. 73 min: Berge plays a defence-splitter down the middle for Sessegnon, who takes a poor touch wide left. That allows the Spurs defence to get back into position, and when Smith Rowe takes receipt of a cross, his attempted shot is immediately blocked. For a second, Spurs were wide open there. 71 min: Kudus backheels down the right for Bentancur, who crosses long. Odobert heads wide left at the far stick. Spurs getting closer and closer. 70 min: Fulham have had just one touch in the Tottenham box in this second half. It’s one-way traffic. 68 min: Also off: King and Wilson, the latter with a tight hamstring. They’re replaced by Lukic and Smith Rowe, the latter, formerly of Arsenal, arriving to the expected pantomime abuse. x PA all the way up to 11. 67 min: … so Fulham are relieved when Kudus is carelessly caught offside. Pressure off. 66 min: Kudus and Porro combine down the right yet again. The ball’s cut back for Simons, who sends a first-time flick goalwards from the penalty spot, only for Andersen to deflect wide right. Kudus whips the set piece to the near post. Bergvall eyebrows a header across goal, the ball heading for the top left … but Jimenez heads off the line and away! Spurs so close to an equaliser! Such a shift in momentum. 64 min: Tottenham are now winning a lot more of their duels. Kolo Muani nearly bursts down the middle, but the flag pops up for offside. Both home team and fans revitalised. 62 min: Tottenham kept probing down the right wing, and finally got their reward. The home crowd are on the march for the first time this evening. As for the Fulham fans … “When you’ve only got one point away all season, that glass we’re filling seems to have a large hole in the bottom, ” sighs Richard Hirst. 61 min: That’s a belter of a goal, and it’s completely transformed the mood in the stadium. Meanwhile Thomas Frank completely transforms the make-up of his team, sending on Odobert, Simons and Bentancur for Richarlison, Gray and Palhinha. This is much better from Spurs! Bergvall clips a cute reverse pass down the inside-right channel for Kudus, who chests down on the right-hand edge of the box and lashes an outrageous left-footed shot into the top right! Leno with no chance at his near post! 58 min: Porro again from the right. Andersen kicks the ball up onto his own chest and out for another corner. Spurs chance their arm by claiming for a penalty but there’s nothing in that. And nothing coming as a result of the corner either. This is much better from Spurs. 57 min: Porro crosses again from the right. Low. Kolo Muani stoops to meet it, heading inches wide of the right-hand post and rippling the side netting. Leno wasn’t getting to that. 56 min: Kudus wins another corner down the right. He takes it himself. Short. He gets the ball back … then hoicks it straight out for a goal kick. More frustration spills down from the stands. 54 min: Bassey and Richarlison have handfuls of each other’s shirt as they tussle down the Spurs right. The striker goes over, but Spurs don’t get a free kick. The home crowd are furious. Nearly doubly so when King threatens to break clear into the Spurs box down the left on the counter, but Danso gets in the way to put a stop to his gallop. 52 min: Porro wins a corner down the right. Kudus curls it towards the near post. Leno claws it out of the top-right corner and away. That’s better from Spurs. Kudus and Porro have been relentless down the right flank tonight, albeit in the futile style. But it’s probably Tottenham’s most likely route to success. 50 min: Wilson romps into space down the right but as he considers his options in the middle, the flag pops up for offside. That very early snapshot from Kolo Muani aside, Spurs have shown nothing since the restart. The irritated mutterings from the home fans emphasise that. 48 min: Udogie takes a poor touch and stretches for the ball. He clatters into Tete and is booked for reckless behaviour. 47 min: Vicario’s unwise bowl out nearly puts Udogie and Bergvall in trouble. The latter wins a soft free kick to release the pressure. 45 min 20 secs. Porro crosses from the right. Bassey chests. The ball sits up for Kolo Muani, who blasts straight back into the defender’s midriff. That’s the first time a Spurs player has got on the end of a cross tonight, albeit indirectly. That’s their first effort on target, as well. Spurs get the second half underway. Quite a few boos as they do so. No changes. Yet. That wild shot from Micky van de Ven on the stroke of half-time appears to have whistled Tottenham’s x G all the way to the heady heights of 0. 07. So onwards and upwards for the hosts, who congregated on the pitch before heading off down the tunnel together, soaking up the boos. Defiance? Repentance? Self-flagellation? You decide. Let’s see if they’ve got any response. Half-time postbag. “An individual error from Bergvall to not cut it out followed by a deflected shot, and then a truly ridiculous failure from the defenders and especially Vicario to allow that to happen for the second. Vicario is an excellent shot stopper but he has such a rash disposition sometimes which leads to mistakes like those. Say whatever you like about Thomas Frank, but the players have let him down today. They let him down at PSG as well, with a handful of mistakes and failures to close Vitinha down leading to another defeat. A true shambles” – Alexandra Ashton “I’ve been wondering about Thomas Frank. His tenure as manager of Brøndby in Denmark was basically okay, but nothing special. After that, he goes to Brentford as an assistant coach and gets promoted from within. He does well, but after he left, there hasn’t been a noticeable drop-off. My inclination is to give him credit for leaving things in good order for his successor, but perhaps he was simply a competent executive in a well-run company. Last season, Tottenham were a team that could either attack well or defend well, but never both in the same match. Thomas Frank’s attempts at solving that has left Spurs a team that can do neither. He should be given time, but perhaps he needs to be at a better run club to do good work” – Kári Tulinius “Keep Frank and sack the team. Can’t even watch this anymore” – Nick Wayne Spurs are booed off. An unambiguous volume. 45 min +3: … and to belabour the point, after Porro wins a corner down the right, Kudus sends the set piece straight out for a goal kick. 45 min +2: Kudus crosses twice from the right. Andersen heads clear on both occasions. Kudus has kept going, showing time and again; it’s just his final ball that’s been lacking. 45 min: From 25 yards out, Van de Ven larrups a shot 25 yards over. Let whoever’s working out the x G have some fun with that. There will be three additional first-half minutes. 44 min: Tottenham’s x G is now down to 0. 01. Has 0. 01 of a goal been deducted for lack of artistic merit? 43 min: Kudus gifts King the ball, and Spurs are very lucky the Fulham man slaps a pass intended for Chukwueze straight at Porro. Had he found his team-mate, Fulham were away down the left. 41 min: Tete upends Kolo Muani, 35 yards from his own goal. Everyone lines up on the edge of the Fulham box in anticipation of the free kick … but Porro’s delivery fails to beat the first man, and seconds later the ball’s back at Vicario’s feet. The keeper clears, to more ironic celebration. That might have been the Fulham fans, to be fair. 39 min: Nothing comes of the resulting corner. More muttering. 38 min: Chukwueze drops a shoulder to make space down the left and crosses. Jimenez prepares to power a header home, but Van de Ven, so often Tottenham’s saviour, gets in the road to divert out for a corner. That’s saved a certain goal. 36 min: King and Wilson take turns to juggle their way down the inside right, but just before the latter can shoot from the edge of the D, Udogie comes across to powerfully brush him off the ball. For a second there, the home fans were audibly fearing the worst. 35 min: Udogie has space to run into down the left, with options in the middle, but he’s mistimed his run and the flag pops up for offside. Spurs have at least stemmed the tide. It’s not much, but small acorns and all that. 33 min: On the touchline, Thomas Frank looks troubled. Head hung low, deep in thought. He needs to come up with something quicksmart.