This is one of those matches that the score line just doesn't do justice. Initially, I had my doubts about getting up early to catch it, but I'm glad I did.
Fulham got off to a bright start, getting a lot of possession and controlling the flow of the match. However the best chances and the only two goals of the first half belonged to Spurs. In the 10th minute Mark Schwarzer pushed an Aaron Lennon pass away to the side, but Gareth Bale sliced it back toward the goal where it deflected into the net off of a Fulham defender. The goal was credited to Bale.
Spurs struck again in first half stoppage time, with Aaron Lennon again involved. This time he slashed his own way into the penalty area and slotted home the second goal to give Spurs the 0-2 lead at half time.
The second half was pretty much all Fulham, and was great fun to watch. They poured chance after chance and shot after shot in at the Spurs defense and Brad Friedel. Their first break of the match came in the 57th minute when during a scrum off of a corner kick Ledley King headed the ball off the back of Younes Kaboul and into the Spurs net, that made it 1-2.
The own goal just energized Fulham even more, as Friedel was forced to make save after save into the match's final minutes. At one point, Clint Dempsey worked his way around Friedel and put the ball in for what looked like a sure equalizer, only to have it cleared at the last second by King.
In second half stoppage time Fulham ended up feeling very hard done by. In yet another scrum in front of the Spurs goal, Kyle Walker clearly handled the ball and Fulham should have had a penalty kick to try and equalize, but it wasn't given. In the end, substitue Jermaine Defoe broke loose toward Schwarzer's goal and slotted home the Spurs' 3rd on virtually the last kick of the game. The full time result was 1-3 to Tottenham.
The result puts Spurs just out of the Champion's League spots on goal difference.
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