Tottenham captain Son Heung-min described their 3-0 defeat at Fulham as “unacceptable” and urged his teammates to use it as a wake-up call.
Spurs came into this match on a high after an emphatic victory at Aston Villa last weekend.
That meant fifth-placed Tottenham could leapfrog Villa and reclaim fourth place with all three points at Craven Cottage, but they were blown away as Rodrigo Muniz continued his excellent form with a goal either side of half-time.
Sasa Lukic also found the net after 49 minutes with his first goal for Fulham, who have now won four of their last six matches.
“Yes, it’s very disappointing and very frustrating,” Son told Sky Sports.
Tottenham captain Son Heung-min has described their 3-0 defeat at Fulham as “unacceptable”.
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“Everyone needs to look in the mirror and say, ‘It was my fault’ because it wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t the level we put effort into all season.
“This time it was very, very disappointing. The attitude, the performance, it wasn’t good enough. I think everyone needs this as a big wake-up call.
‘It is unacceptable. You always have lessons and myself included, this performance and the result was unacceptable.
“We are taking two steps back and now have to take a big step forward because after the international break we have a huge match and it will be very crucial.”
Tottenham started poorly and could have conceded twice in the first 11 minutes, but Cristian Romero made crucial blocks to deny Muniz and Andrea Pereira.
The visitors eventually regrouped and went close through captain Son and James Maddison, who failed to hit the target from inside the box and Fulham punished Spurs in the 42nd minute.
Antonee Robinson delivered an excellent cross from the left, which Muniz controlled before heading into the bottom corner.
The score was 2-0 immediately after halftime when Lukic deflected Alex Iwobi’s cross with his knee and Muniz completed the score after 61 minutes.
Ange Postecoglou’s Champions League ambitions suffered a major blow in defeat
Calvin Bassey’s effort was parried onto the post by Guglielmo Vicario and Muniz scored his seventh goal in his last seven matches to condemn Tottenham to a painful defeat.
Boss Ange Postecoglou expressed his disappointment and doubled down on his previously expressed view that Champions League qualification is not crucial to his team’s development.
“In the second half, after conceding the second goal, we just didn’t reach the levels of intensity and rhythm that we had had all year,” Postecoglou said.
“Then it was very difficult for us to get any control or any traction in the game. We felt like we were chasing the whole time, so it was a disappointing night for us.
After missing the chance to come back fourth, Postecoglou responded: “I don’t see fourth place as a prize.
“This club has already finished fourth. It finished second before.
“Fourth place is not my final goal. I don’t want to finish fourth if we haven’t grown and developed our team.
“I think success is based on more tangible elements. If we finish fifth and I think we have a team to challenge next year (after the summer transfer window), then I won’t be disappointed.
Fulham boss Marco Silva toasted another good result, with the victory making it the fourth in his last six matches, which include wins against Brighton and Manchester United.
Spurs have won their last seven league matches at Craven Cottage but struggled on Saturday.
Rodrigo Muniz scored twice against Spurs as he continued his goalscoring run for Fulham
“If not the best (performance), one of the best,” insisted Silva.
“The first half was the best of the season because the players did it brilliantly. It was almost perfect.
“A crucial moment to score and it was really important to score two quick goals to kill the game.
“Three well deserved points.”