Tottenham Hotspur 2 - 0 Fulham
Tottenham scorers: Son Heung-Min (36’), James Maddison (54’)
Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, England
Referee: Anthony Taylor
| Starting XI | Notes | Subs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guglielmo Vicario | Fraser Forster | ||
| Cristian Romero | Eric Dier | ||
| Micky van de Ven | Ashley Phillips | ||
| Pedro Porro | Giovani Lo Celso | 81’ | |
| Destiny Udogie | 56’ | Oliver Skipp | 62’ |
| Pape Matar Sarr | 62’ | Emerson Royal | 56’ |
| Pierre-Emile Højbjerg | 35’ | Brennan Johnson | 81’ |
| Dejan Kulusevski | Bryan Gil | ||
| James Maddison | 54’ | Alejo Véliz | 81’ |
| Richarlison | 81’ | ||
| Son Heung-Min | 36’ 81’ |
Manager: Ange Postecoglou (Australia)
| Starting XI | Notes | Subs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bernd Leno | Marek Rodák | ||
| Calvin Bassey | Fodé Ballo-Touré | ||
| Tim Ream | Luc De Fougerolles | ||
| Timothy Castagne | Tom Cairney | 82’ | |
| Antonee Robinson | Harry Wilson | 62’ | |
| João Palhinha | 82’ | Alex Iwobi | 46’ |
| Saša Lukić | 72’ | Harrison Reed | 72’ |
| Andreas Pereira | 46’ | Rodrigo Muniz | |
| Bobby Decordova-Reid | 62’ | Raúl Jiménez | 46’ |
| Willian | |||
| Carlos Vinícius | 46’ |
Manager: Marco Silva (Portugal)
1’: We’re off!
1’: Decordova-Reid fires one in the first fifteen seconds but it goes well wide.
2’: SAVE! Leno sticks out a leg and blocks Son! Being pulled back for a free kick for a foul in the buildup.
7’: Van de Ven’s sidefoot volley goes over the bar from eight yards out.
8’: Penalty for Spurs??? Big decision for the ref here… it’s outside the box! Just a free kick. Antonee Robinson got lucky there.
12’: SAVE! Palhinha doesn’t even jump and thumps a scary header towards goal, but Vicario just gets his hand behind it.
27’: Højbjerg lets one fly down the middle, right at the keeper for a comfortable save.
30’: Richarlison goes for the bottom corner from outside the box, a decent counter but it ends with the shot going wide.
34’: Maddison whips a shot towards the far side, doesn’t have the power to beat Leno.
35’: Pierre-Emile Højbjerg goes into the book for a late challenge on Willian he couldn’t pull out of in time
36’: GOAL TOTTENHAM!! Bassey fires a bad pass in the back that’s picked up by Spurs! They get it to Son Heung-Min who skips past a couple defenders and fires a shot that Leno is never getting to.
40’: Spurs somehow don’t score a second. A couple desperate blocks leaves them with only a corner even though they seemingly had an open net right in front of goal.
45+1’: Højbjerg goes down after a collision with Bassey, Spurs wants a penalty, none of the officials agree.
HT Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Fulham Spurs wrecking Fulham right now, probably should be up by more.
46’: Fulham double sub: Raúl Jiménez and Alex Iwobi on for Carlos Vinícius and Andreas Pereira
46’: We’re back!
52’: Richarlison gets a cross from Son and puts it wayyyyyyy over the net.
54’: GOAL TOTTENHAM!! Son decides to lay it over for James Maddison who rushes forward and puts it into the far side! Bassey playing everyone onside.
56’: Tottenham substitution: Emerson Royal on for Destiny Udogie
62’: Tottenham substitution: Oliver Skipp on for Pape Matar Sarr
62’: Fulham substitution: Harry Wilson on for Bobby Decordova-Reid
72’: Fulham substitution: Harrison Reed on for Saša Lukić
81’: Tottenham triple sub: Brennan Johnson, Giovani Lo Celso and Alejo Véliz on for Richarlison, Son Heung-Min and James Maddison
82’: Fulham substitution: Tom Cairney on for João Palhinha
84’: SAVE!! Raúl Jiménez stabs a shot at goal but Vicario keeps it out! Vicario has had nothing to do but that woke him up!
87’: SAVE! Cairney’s shot is caught by the keeper, probably going a bit wide of the near post anyway.
FT Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Fulham Spurs still top of the table. Hmmmm…
I haven’t watched Tottenham live other than against Liverpool so honest, but possibly stupid, question…would Kane improve this team if all else roster & manager-wise was the same, or are they now fundamentally playing differently in a way where he couldn’t fit in and be this good?
Seems so unlikely that he would leave and they would immediately get way better, but that seems to be what is happening.
Without any question, yes.
It’s hard to imagine how arguably the world’s best striker wouldn’t improve Spurs. But the problem would be that Sonny would have to play on the left (where Richarlison is playing now and doing quite well). He began there at the beginning of the season and while he was decent, he’s clearly a bit wasted in that spot. Meanwhile, he’s thriving in the central role now and many have said he’s the ideal Angeball striker.
Switching Richie to the left is also as important move as switching Sonny to the 9. Richie on the left means extra pressing machine. It’s also his position at Everton, where he play his best, playing off DCL.
He doesn’t need to be the main man. He can play a Firmino position from the left. Extra pressing, less play making but still as goos nonetheless.
He’s world class at scoring and passing but there’s one dimensionalness to his playstyle. Whenever he drops deep to linkup/give passes, he’s removed from the play and comes into the box late unlike Son who would sprint to stretch the defense. We might still get same results with him but it won’t look like the high octane Ange ball we are seeing now for sure. So unlike the other answers you got, there’s no guarantee. Personally I think he will make us worse for the reason above, plus we won’t feel like a family who play 120% for their brothers like we do now. Instead it’ll be a toxic environment of 10 players trying to please someone who keeps threatening to leave every year
I love Kane, but Ange ball demands a high pressing fast and efficient striker. Kane would have struggled to press high like Son did in this game. If you look at today’s game Son run in a way that cut off the left side of the field forcing GK to only pass to the right, and then everyone else presses the right leading to the turnovers and the 2 goals. It is no coincidence that Son leads the league in sprinting distances. Look at Burnley game where Son had 52 presses leading to 12 turnovers, one of them resulting in Madder’s goal just like the second goal today. Kane is a high volume striker, relatively slow. Son is a better fit for Ange ball
The truthful answer is he’d get 40 goals and 20 assists. I’m not kidding. I’ve seen the chances we are creating and they are ridiculous for someone who converts half chances and pings the ball as well as he does. Kane, Maddison and Son in the same team is lights out for the opposition