Home Sports Fulham 3-0 Tottenham: Ange Postecoglou’s Champions League ambitions suffer major blow as Rodrigo Munez’s brace earns hosts stunning win at Craven Cottage

Fulham 3-0 Tottenham: Ange Postecoglou’s Champions League ambitions suffer major blow as Rodrigo Munez’s brace earns hosts stunning win at Craven Cottage

by Alexander
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Fulham 3-0 Tottenham: Ange Postecoglou's Champions League ambitions suffer major blow as Rodrigo Munez's brace earns hosts stunning win at Craven Cottage

It was impossible to tell which London club had Champions League aspirations and which sat mid-table with little tangible things to play for.

Fulham took on their illustrious Cockney rivals with an intensity and energy that Ange Postecoglu’s men simply could not live with.

A week after beating European rivals Aston Villa 4-0, it was a dismal performance from Tottenham reminiscent of the Spursy days.

No wonder Postecoglu looked even sterner than usual on the touchline. He made a triple change midway through the second half with his team already 3-0 down, but the improvement was slight rather than game-changing.

By the end, even captain Son Heung-Min was hooked in what was a baptism of fire for centre-half Radu Dragosin in his first Premier League start replacing Micky van de Ven.

Rodrigo Munez scored twice as Fulham beat Tottenham 3-0 at Craven Cottage

Ange Postecoglou's Champions League ambitions suffered a major blow in defeat

Ange Postecoglou’s Champions League ambitions suffered a major blow in defeat

Muniz scored twice against Spurs as he continued his goalscoring run for Fulham

Muniz scored twice against Spurs as he continued his goalscoring run for Fulham

At the same time, Fulham deserve huge credit for the effort and skill they put in.

Striker Rodrigo Muniz caught the eye with a brace that took his goal streak to seven goals in seven games, leaving the hero to a standing ovation after being injured while scoring the second.

No wonder Fulham boss Marco Silva felt comfortable leaving out Armando Broja again, even if it leaves his club with a £4million bill at Chelsea under the terms of his deal January loan.

Between Muniz’s goals was Sasa Lukic’s first for the club at the 34th attempt, the ball coming off his left knee at a perfect angle to beat Guglielmo Vicario.

Joao Palhinha only denied them a fourth with a VAR offside decision. Spurs couldn’t have complained if the margin of defeat had been greater.

“We never mastered the game,” admitted Postecoglu, not hiding his disappointment.

“We weren’t great, especially in the second half. The first half was even enough, we conceded a disappointing goal. In the second half, the intensity dropped.

“Our third final play wasn’t great. But it was rather the game as a whole that was disappointing. There were things we did all year that we were proud of, our pace, but it wasn’t there.

1710718271 965 Fulham 3 0 Tottenham Ange Postecoglous Champions League ambitions suffer major

Spurs had won their last seven league matches at Craven Cottage but struggled on Saturday.

Sasa Lukic scored his first goal for the club shortly after the start of the second half.

Sasa Lukic scored his first goal for the club shortly after the start of the second half.

Tottenham were only denied a fourth by Joao Palhinha with an offside VAR decision

Tottenham were only denied a fourth by Joao Palhinha with an offside VAR decision

However, he was also keen not to neglect the bigger picture of an otherwise healthy season. “It’s more like four steps forward, one step back. If we take one step forward, one step back, we would be in 18th position!’

Fulham got off to a flying start with midfielder Andreas Pereira, called up by Brazil for next week’s friendly, at the heart of it all.

Even by Spurs standards, it looked easy to counterattack.

MATCH FACTS AND NOTES

Fulham (4-2-3-1): Leno 6: Castagne 7 (Head 82), Bassey 7, Adarabioyo 6, Robinson 7; Palhinha 6.5, Lukic 7.5 (Reed 81); Willian 6, Pereira 7.5 (Wilson 72 6), Iwobi 7 (Decordova Reid 82); Muniz 8 (Jimenez 63 5.5)

Unused subscribers: Rodak (GK), Tete, Cairney, Traore, ReamGoal: Muniz 42 & 61, Lukic 49Reserved: Palhinha, Reed

Tottenham (4-3-3): Vicario 6.5: Porro 5, Dragusin 6, Romero 6.5, Udogie 6; Sarr 7 (Werner 66 6), Bissouma 5 (Bentancur 66 6), Maddison 5 (Bentancur 66); Kulusevski 6, Son 5.5 (Lo Celso 87), Johnson 5.5 (Richarlison 80)

Unused substitutes: Austin (GK), Skipp, Hojbjerg, Royal, Lo Celso, Davies Reserved: Bissouma, Johnson, Bentancur

Arbitrator: Rob Jones 7.5 Attendance: 24,410

Vicario saved from Willian and Cristian Romero needed a heroic block to stop Pereira.

Tottenham’s only respite was a weak shot from Brennan Johnson at Bernd Leno and misses from Maddison and Son. It was no surprise that they fell behind shortly before the break.

Fulham finally took the lead they deserved as half-time approached. Pereira found space to release buccaneer full-back Antonee Robinson and the American’s low cross was buried by Munoz, showing his current confidence.

Spurs organized a group before the start of the second half, but found themselves further behind within five minutes.

Alex Iwobi played the role of Timothy Castagne during the overlap. From his cross into the area, Lukic stretched and the ball diverted Vicario in a flash.

It was no surprise that a third Fulham was added on the hour. Vicario had already saved Castagne when his Calvin Bassey save landed kindly for Muniz who reacted quicker than Dragosin to push in the rebound.

The striker looked unwell as he celebrated and was taken away shortly afterwards to the sound of loud chants of “Moo-niz” coming from all four corners of the stadium.

Postecuglu had seen enough and eliminated Maddison, Yves Bissouma and Papa Sarr. Two of the substitutes Timo Werner and Rodrigo Bentancur tested Bernd Leno, as did Richarlison when he came on in the last 10 minutes.

But it was actually far too little, far too late. It’s been mostly highs for Postecoglu since his arrival in north London, but it was definitely a low and the first time his side have failed to score in the league.

Maybe Marco Silva should start getting the credit he deserves now. After promotion and a place in the top half of the Premier League in his first two seasons, no one is even talking about Fulham now as a relegation candidate.

Robinson said: “We’ve had our moments this season and this is going to be up there. Doing it the way we did it and keeping it clean means it’s right there for me.

“It’s a real trend with us, I don’t think we lost a game when we scored first. We really showed that we wanted to win this game. We kept our shape well and counterattacked from very efficient way.

Fulham manager Marco Silva was delighted to see his side claim an emphatic victory

Fulham manager Marco Silva was delighted to see his side claim an emphatic victory

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