An 86th minute strike from Ismael Ehui was all that separated Fulham and Spurs in an evenly contested encounter at Craven Cottage.
Moritz Volz continued his return to full fitness, lasting just over an hour before being replaced. The visitors rolled out the big guns as they started the match with the likes of Ricardo Rocha and Wayne Routledge whilst Ledley King made his first appearance following a lengthy spell out.
The Whites took some time to get into the flow of the game and Spurs could have taken the lead as early as the fourth minute when the Fulham defence was unable to deal with a set piece whipped into the danger area. Tony Warner produced a fine reaction save from the attempted header and the follow up, much to the relief of the Whites’ back line, was punted high into the Hammersmith End.
The visitors had great initial success pressing Fulham’s back line and midfield when the Whites’ were in possession and with few options available further up the pitch, Fulham were finding it difficult to get out of their own half with any degree of quality.
However, as the half progressed Fulham began defending with greater aggression with Adrian Leijer in particular leading by example and started committing more men to their attacks. The result was a slightly more balanced flow to the game – although the Whites were still struggling to get past Rocha and King to force Ben Alnwick into action.
Fulham’s first chance of the half came just after the half hour mark when Joe Anderson’s long pass down the left found Ismael Ehui. The striker crossed low into the box with Lewis Smith the intended target. Unfortunately the ball was put behind for a corner.
Wayne Routledge was posing the greatest threat for the visitors and good work from the former England Under-21 international almost gave Spurs the lead when he tricked his way past Anderson but was unable to play the final pass effectively.
As the first half drew to a close the Whites’ missed a fine opportunity to take the lead. A badly judged back pass was seized upon by Smith but with only the keeper to beat, the forward fired his effort straight at Alnwick.
Spurs hit back almost immediately when a cross field ball was taken down well by Routledge and hit low to the back post. Fortunately Simon Dawkins, sliding in at the back post, side footed wide. Routledge tried his luck in first half injury time but his effort was diverted round the post by a full stretch Tony Warner.
The Whites started the second half much the brighter side, perhaps due to a double substitution for Spurs which saw both Rocha and King replaced or the fact that both full backs were now playing a more active part in Fulham’s attacks.
Fine link-up play between Hudson-Odoi and Volz down the right flack set the German fullback away. Volz played a neat pass into Ehui but he was unable to apply the finish and scuffed his effort wide. Volz’ attacking instincts were on show again when he drifted infield and played a disguised pass to Ehui whose turn and shot rolled just wide of the far post – narrowly evading Wayne Brown who was sliding in.
It was soon Spurs’ turn to apply the pressure but Fulham’s defence held firm, with both Matthew Saunders and Rob Milsom working hard in front of the back line. Moritz Volz’ participation ended on 65 minutes when he was replaced by Nathan Ashton.
Fulham’s second change of the match saw Hudson–Odoi replaced by Lino Goncalves. The Portuguese winger took up position on the left flank with Wayne Brown moving over to the right wing.
Fulham almost snatched a fortuitous winner late on when Ashton’s right footed cross looped on to the bar with Alnwick looking on. The winning goal came soon after when Ehui received the ball wide on the left, cut inside and fired a crisp right footed shot past the Spurs custodian.
Fulham: Warner; Volz (Ashton 65), Leijer, Thompson, Anderson; Hudson-Odoi (Goncalves 75), Saunders, Milsom, Brown; Ehui, Smith
