Fulham defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in the Premier League on Saturday evening.
The match got off to an absolute nightmare start for Spurs, as they found themselves two goals down after just six minutes played, and both goals were incredibly poor to concede. Fulham's first goal wasn't actually that bad from a Spurs perspective, as Kenny Tete's strike from just outside the box took a huge deflection off Destiny Udogie and beat Guglielmo Vicario. But the second goal was dreadful and made Spurs fans furious.
Vicario came running out of his goal to attempt to claim and clear the ball on the right wing, but his clearance was poor and was instead more of a pass right to the feet of Joshua King. The 18-year-old quickly gave the ball to Harry Wilson, who realised Vicario was out of his goal and curled the ball beautifully into the back of the net from range to double his side's lead. Spurs' start almost went from bad to even worse in the 11th minute, as Samuel Chukwueze hit the post.
Spurs almost found themselves 3-0 down in the 38th minute, as Chukwueze rounded Vicario and looked destined to score, but out of nowhere, Micky van de Ven got back to tackle the Nigerian and save his side from going three goals down.
Despite going two goals down early on, going forward, Spurs hardly threatened and went into the half-time break 2-0 down.
The hosts came out of the blocks flying in the second half, and got a goal back in the 59th minute thanks to a fantastic strike from Mohammed Kudus. The Ghanaian was fed the ball and brought it down before unleashing a powerful half volley past Bernd Leno to spark hopes of a comeback for Spurs.
Spurs continued to push on after Kudus' goal, but they lacked creativity in the final third, which made them quite easy to defend against at times.
Fulham successfully saw the match out to take all three points at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Match Highlights
Tottenham Hotspur Player Ratings
GK: Guglielmo Vicario - 4/10
A nightmare performance from the Italian. Not only was Vicario at fault for Fulham's second goal, where he rushed out of his goal and gave the ball away, but he looked erratic on the ball all evening, and that seemed to have a negative effect on the defenders in front of him as well.
RB: Pedro Porro - 7.5/10
The Spaniard was often Spurs' best attacking outlet. Porro put plenty of really good crosses into the box, but they just weren't met by the Spurs forward line.
CB: Kevin Danso - 7/10
Had a really erratic start to the match, but managed to redeem himself with a decent performance. Danso was decent with the ball at his feet and dealt with Jimenez well.
CB: Micky van de Ven - 7.5/10
Produced a vital tackle in the first half to deny Fulham an almost certain goal after Chukwueze rounded Vicario. Like his centre-back partner, Danso, van de Ven had an erratic start, but redeemed himself by being defensively sound and threatening from set pieces.
LB: Destiny Udogie - 6/10
Was unfortunate to see his deflection from Tete's early shot guide the ball into his own net. Udogie didn't have the best performance, as he wasn't great either offensively or defensively.
CM: Joao Palhinha - 5.5/10
Spurs going 2-0 down early in the match meant he couldn't really play the game how he normally does. The big midfielder is typically a physical presence and a hard worker, but he had more to do with the ball in this match, and he didn't do that well with it.
CM: Archie Gray - 6/10
Like his midfield partner, Palhinha, Gray also didn't really do much with the ball at his feet, although Spurs were chasing the game for pretty much its entirety.
CM: Lucas Bergvall - 8/10
Arguably Spurs' best player. The youngster provided an assist for Kudus' goal and had a really effective, energetic presence in the match. Despite putting in a good performance, Bergvall was taken off even though his side was chasing the game.
RW: Mohammed Kudus - 7.5/10
Took his goal well and was a decent creative threat going forward. Although Kudus was quite one-dimensional at times, as his main plan going forward was to cross the ball, it was quite effective.
ST: Randal Kolo Muani - 5.5/10
Worked very hard and stretched the Fulham back line at times, but at times looked like he didn't know what to do in front of goal.
LW: Richarlison - 5.5/10
Worked hard and put himself about, but just couldn't make anything happen in the final third.
SUB: Xavi Simons - 6/10
Played with energy and tried to make things happen, but lacked composure and quality in front of goal.
SUB: Rodrigo Bentancur - 5.5/10
Although Bentancur didn't really do anything wrong after coming on, he just wasn't proactive enough on the ball, although his side were chasing the game.
SUB: Wilson Odobert - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Pape Sarr - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Mathys Tel - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
Fulham Player Ratings
GK: Bernd Leno - 6.5/10
Arguably could've done better to stop Kudus' strike, but the German goalkeeper performed well as a whole, especially when dealing with Spurs' crosses.
RB: Kenny Tete - 8/10
Never really put a foot wrong defensively and was a real live wire going forward, especially in the first half. Tete may have been fortunate to score his goal, but his performance deserved it.
CB: Joachim Andersen - 7.5/10
Dealt with the Spurs front line very well and produced many important defensive actions, mainly blocks and clearances.
CB: Calvin Bassey - 7.5/10
Like his centre-back partner, Andersen, Bassey also managed to keep Spurs' front line quiet. The Nigerian had a really good battle going throughout the match with Kolo Muani, which he absolutely won.
LB: Ryan Sessegnon - 7.5/10
Did very well against the tough test of Kudus, especially in one-on-one defensive situations. Sessegnon also carried a threat offensively, as he regularly broke forward down the left wing and made himself a threat.
CM: Sander Berge - 7/10
Didn't have much to do with the ball at his feet, but worked incredibly hard and pressed well in the midfield.
CM: Alex Iwobi - 7/10
Didn't really have much involvement in the match, but played with plenty of energy and intensity, which caused the Spurs players some problems at times.
CM: Joshua King - 8/10
Provided a simple but effective assist for Wilson's goal, which put Fulham 2-0 up after just six minutes. The youngster had plenty of tidy moments in possession and was a real threat on the counter, especially in the first half.
RW: Harry Wilson - 8/10
Although people will watch Wilson's goal and say it was an open net he scored in, the finish was incredibly difficult, and he showed great composure to guide it into the back of the net. The Welshman, although he didn't see much of the ball as a whole, had several bright moments during the match.
ST: Raul Jimenez - 6.5/10
Had a few moments throughout the match where he got the ball down and managed to bring others into play, but outside of that, Jimenez was dealt with quite easily by the Spurs centre-backs.
LW: Samuel Chukwueze - 8/10 (Man of the Match)
SUB: Emile Smith Rowe - 6.5/10
Tidy in possession and worked hard after being introduced.
SUB: Sasa Lukic - 6.5/10
Slotted into the midfield well after coming on, and worked incredibly hard and pressed well.
SUB: Kevin - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Timothy Castagne - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.