Ange Postecoglou's side would have climbed above Aston Villa into fourth place with a win, but instead they handed the initiative back to their top-four rivals. Fifth-placed Tottenham were punished for a sloppy performance as the in-form Rodrigo Muniz netted twice either side of Sasa Lukic's first goal for Fulham.

A 4-0 win at Villa last weekend was expected to act as Tottenham's springboard to finish above Unai Emery's team in the battle to qualify for next season's Champions League. Instead, the north Londoners crashed to a first league defeat at Craven Cottage since 2008 and failed to score for the first time in 40 games.

They sit two points behind Villa, who can extend that lead to five if they win at West Ham on Sunday. With Micky van de Ven sidelined by a hamstring injury, Radu Dragusin made his first Tottenham start. Worryingly for Postecoglou, Romania centre-back Dragusin, signed from Genoa in January, was often exposed in a rocky display.

Fulham took the lead in the 42nd minute when Muniz cleverly drifted away from Dragusin as the Brazilian forward found space to meet Antonee Robinson's low cross with a clinical finish from 10 yards. Tottenham's defensive deficiencies were exposed again four minutes after half-time. Iwobi was allowed to advance unchecked and he slipped a pass to Timothy Castagne, whose cross hit Lukic and deflected into the net. Tottenham were in tatters and Muniz struck again in the 61st minute.

March 16, 2024

Saša Lukić

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