Premier League

FULHAM 0
TOTTENHAM 1 (Kane 45+1)

WHEN you have suffered back-to-back defeats against the top two teams in the country – the sides that are providing the bench mark – the amount of work ahead of you can be daunting.

After being thoroughly trounced by north London rivals Arsenal and Manchester City, Tottenham needed a response at Craven Cottage tonight (Monday).

Fulham, enjoying a wonderful season back in the Premier League, could have leap-frogged Spurs with a win – while a defeat for Antonio Conte would only amplify the ever-swirling rumours that he’ll walk away from the club in the summer.

But Tottenham found an inner steel to grind out a desperately welcome 1-0 victory – courtesy of a Harry Kane beauty – and while it was far removed from a dominant win, three points on the road on a cold January night will always be worth a great deal psychologically.

After swivelling to score with a sweet strike into the bottom corner from just outside the box – equalling Jimmy Greaves’ Tottenham record in the process – Kane said: “It was a tough game, and three really important points on the back of the last two results.

“Fulham is not an easy place to come. They are a good side, just behind us [in the Premier League table] – but we have kept a clean sheet and earned a one-nil win. It has been a tough week but we have come back. We had a good talk amongst ourselves this week. Our manager is passionate, he is a fighter and we enjoy working hard for him.

“It has been a difficult week – when you give away a two-goal lead, as we did at Manchester City, it is hard to take. Clean sheets are really important and is something we have spoke about. We knew we’d create chances of our own and one of us would take it.”

Speaking about the goal that brings him level with Greaves’ tally of 266, Kane added: “I wanted to get into a position where I could get half a yard, and get my shot away. I bent it round the defender and the keeper was unsighted. Now we have to use this victory to give us some momentum.”

Fulham had given under-fire Hugo Lloris plenty to think about in the first half, peppering shots to test the Tottenham keepers concentration. They were explorative efforts rather than anything clear cut, and was perhaps what Lloris needed – work to do without it being tricky.

At the other end, Tottenham’s attack looked disjointed at times, but for the first time in many weeks, the performance of Heung-Min Son was approaching something near acceptable.

It was the desperately off form forward who played a cute little ball into Kane’s feet in first half injury time. Kane touched it once into space and then wrapped his wand of a right foot round the ball, sending it crashing into the far corner from distance and giving Bernd Leno no chance.

Fulham stepped up the pace in the second half as they valiantly sought a way back into the game, but the Spurs defence were comfortable and capable. The tactic of aiming for Aleksandar Mitrovic – no matter the close attentions of Eric Dier throughout – meant Tottenham were faced with no unpleasant surprises in terms of Fulham’s attacks. The route one attempt to get level played into the visitors hands.

Just before the hour mark Kane dropped off his marker and got on the end of a pull back, but his header from six-yards out was a comfortable height for Leno to push up and over the bar. It broke up a period of Fulham possession that saw the home side enjoy a lot of the ball but not create anything too clear cut or worrying for Spurs.

And that was the story of the remaining minutes: Fulham lacked the ability to find a way through as Tottenham defended their lead – and at the other end, the occasional breaks caused some problems but Spurs lacked the nous to capitalise.

The north Londoners are now fifth in the table, three points off Manchester United and Newcastle. They have a decent fourth round FA Cup tie on Saturday and a Champions League last-16 tie to enjoy in February. Suddenly the Conte cup no longer looks half empty, but feels half full once again.

Fulham: Leno, Tete (Solomon,79), Diop, Ream, Robinson, Palhinha, Reed (Cairney, 65), Willian (Vinicius, 87), Pereira, De Cordova-Reid (Wilson, 87) Mitrovic
Substitutes not used: Rodak, Kurzawa, Adarabioyo, Chalobah, James

Tottenham: Lloris, Romero, Dier, Davies, Royal, Bentancur, Hojbjerg, Perisic, Kulusevski (Bissouma, 90+1), Son (Richarlison, 75), Kane
Substitutes not used: Forster, Doherty, Sanchez, Tanganga, Lenglet, Sessegnon, Skipp,