Premier League

FULHAM 2 (Wilson 7, Iwobi 34)
TOTTENHAM 1 (Richarlison 66)

BLAMING the referee is a get out of jail free card that is feeling dog eared and overused by a Tottenham side that seem only able to apply themselves for 20 minutes out of 90.

Today (Sunday), they turned in a dire first half performance in a 2-1 reverse at Fulham. The West Londoners earned an easy three points, with goals from Harry Wilson and Alex Iwobi.

A second half Richarlison header gave some hope to the relegation-dogged visitors, but it was not enough.

This was a record-equalling 10th game without victory.

Time is running out.

The supposedly status-saving interim manager Igor Tudor could not get a tune from his morale-sapped team – and sought to blame the referee and Fulham’s Raul Jimenez for some gamesmanship in the build up to the opener.

Frankly his side only made a game of it late on.

Speaking after the game, Tudor highlighted an incident in Fulham’s early opener that saw Jimenez win a header after shoving Radu Dragusin. “Of course it’s a foul,” he lamented. “Nine out of 10 people will say it’s a foul. It’s so obvious.

“Jimenez was not thinking about the ball, he was thinking how to cheat, so he cheated the player with pushing and they scored the goal.

“So it’s cheating and there’s the foul.”

West Ham are just four points behind Spurs. Six minutes in at Craven Cottage, and a goal down – it already felt like panic stations, and the players sunk further when Iwobi scored from distance just after the half-hour mark.

It should not be a surprise that a well-organised and fluent Fulham made short work of such a mishmash of the young, the uninterested and returnees from injury.

Tudor brought in a double-pronged attack, keeping Randal Kolo Muani in the starting lineup but adding Dominic Solanke alongside him.

It only took Fulham six minutes to take the lead. They’d sprayed the ball about and built up some pressure. A lofted ball to the back stick was nodded across by Jimenez for Wilson to volley home.

Spurs looked to hit it long but Fulham’s back-three were too savvy. Pedro Porro skewed one over and both Joao Palhinha and Yves Bissouma had efforts blocked, but it was scraps.

The one time Tottenham managed to smuggle a ball in, Kolo Muani shaped to shoot but had the ball nicked off his toes by an excellent Issa Diop sliding tackle.

Fulham were good for the lead when on 34 minutes a move down the right caused chaos between Archie Gray and Xavi Simons. Iwobi had time and space on the edge of the box to guide an excellent effort in off the far post.

The triple change on the hour-mark saw the disappointing Simons hooked along with Conor Gallagher and Kolo Muani. Mathys Tel immediately offered brightness and it was his ball-hugging run that earned a reward on 66.

Gray’s dinked ball was headed home by Richarlison. It was the visitors first effort on target all afternoon.

It wasn’t enough, despite some late pressure, to earn a desperately-needed point. Tottenham went away empty-handed, with the Fulham fans gleefully chanting: “Say hello to QPR.”

Fulham: Leno, Sessegnon, Bassey, Diop, Tete, Berge, Iwobi (Cuenca, 90), Bobb (King, 74), Smith Rowe (Cairney, 72), Wilson (Chukwueze, 72), Jimenez (Muniz, 73)
Substitutes not used: Lecomte, Reed, Castagne, Robinson

Tottenham: Vicario, Gray, van de Ven, Dragusin (Danso, 90), Porro, Palhinha, Bissouma (Souza, 79), Simons (Richarlison, 58), Gallagher (Sarr, 58), Kolo Muani (Tel, 58), Solanke
Substitutes not used: Kinsky, Austin, Olusesi, Rowswell