Tottenham's relegation fears intensified after a 2-1 defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage, extending their winless run in the Premier League to nine matches. The loss, their fourth in a row, leaves them mired in the bottom three, with only the fact that all their relegation rivals also lost providing scant consolation.
Igor Tudor's side were thoroughly outplayed by a Fulham team that was more aggressive, decisive and coherent. Spurs were limp and apathetic, with the 4-4-2 formation failing to click. Conor Gallagher had a nightmare, Xavi Simons was anonymous, and Randal Kolo Muani repeatedly ran the ball out of play. All three were substituted before the hour mark.
Fulham took the lead through Harry Wilson's volley, which came after a contentious push by Raúl Jiménez on Radu Dragusin went unpunished. Tottenham felt aggrieved, but they had failed to shut down the attack earlier. The second goal was a stunning strike from Alex Iwobi, who exchanged passes with Wilson before curling a first-time effort into the net from 25 yards. Dominic Solanke's failure to track Iwobi's run summed up Tottenham's lack of defensive awareness.
Spurs pulled one back through Richarlison's header with 24 minutes remaining, but they never looked like mounting a comeback. Fulham continued to create chances and could have won by a more emphatic margin. Tottenham's desperation and anxiety were evident in wild shots and miscontrols, as the threat of relegation becomes increasingly real.
Igor Tudor, known as an 'arch-firefighter', faces a huge task to turn things around. The defeat was even worse than last week's 4-1 loss to Arsenal, where there had been glimmers of hope. Here, there were none. Tottenham are learning that when you are up against it, everything goes against you.
