Player Ratings: Fulham 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur

Fulham showed once again why they are arguably the most inconsistent side in the Premier League this season in terms of results and performances by bouncing back from a late defeat at the AmEx last week to comfortably beat Spurs at the Cottage. The three points leave the Whites in a provisional UEFA Conference League spot going into the international break with just nine games to play and an FA Cup quarter-final in the offing. We have quite the exciting final two months of the season to come…

Bernd Leno

Considering Leno kept an impressive clean sheet against a generally exciting, attacking Postecoglu side, it’s weird how little praise I’m going to give him here. Bar a decent diving save to prevent Mathys Tel in the second half, Leno had very little to do in the game. His distribution looked shaky at best throughout, signified by a very poor pass accuracy and most of his long balls finding a Tottenham man. 6/10

Timothy Castagne

Thought in general Castagne was our best full-back at both ends of the pitch today, something you can very rarely say about the Belgian when playing alongside Robinson. His attacking input was far more encouraging that normal, even if a gilt-edge chance that fell to him on 34 minutes did end up comfortably in the hands of Vicario. Was rather impressed at how tight he stayed to Son in the second half to keep the Korean quiet for the most part. 7/10

Joachim Andersen

Probably as impressed as I’ve been in an all-round Andersen performance for a while as the Dane quietly went about playing a big part in a vital clean sheet. Unlike plenty of times this season, he showed the ball-playing abilities we know he’s capable of, playing the ball into midfield brilliantly throughout. Defensively, his five clearances and two blocked shots were the best of any Fulham player over the 90. 7.5/10

Calvin Bassey

Considering Bassey plays so on the limit at times, and the fact that he plays the ball so progressively out of defence, it’s incredibly impressive that he finds his passing percentage over 90% here. Did incredibly well at frequently stepping into duels and winning second balls over and over again in place of any other Fulham or Spurs man. 7/10

Antonee Robinson

Jedi having the most completed tackles of any Fulham player looks good on paper, but it was a reflection on the number of times he had to recover from having Johnson or Spence go past him on the right. Admittedly, it shows good resilience, but it felt like an off day in general. His on the ball play looked so flaky in the first half especially, and his crossing throughout was really poor for his standards this season. 5.5/10

Sander Berge

Solid if not spectacular. Describing a standard Sander Berge performance at this point feels like what we would say about Harrison Reed for the past half a decade in that, even if you don’t notice him much in the middle of the park, he never really dips below a seven out of 10. Provided great support and balance alongside two midfielders who struggled to gel in earlier parts of the season. 7/10

Andreas Pereira

After struggling so often to play the deeper number eight role this season, Pereira really excelled in this one. Normally his positional discipline in this role is poor, but today there was great balance in his game. Sometimes he found himself in dangerous areas going forward, like four minutes in when he flashed a strike across goal. In other times, he conducted play superbly from deep whilst simultaneously putting the hard yards in alongside Berge and getting stuck into a number of tackles. 8.5/10 – Man of the match

Alex Iwobi

Really struggled to get into the game at all. Drifted inside looking to find space in attacking areas but had such little joy. Dispossessed on multiple occasions which is very rare for Iwobi. He completed the second least passes of any outfield player, with the lowest pass accuracy of the lot. That included four misplaced crosses from five, which contributed to how little creative threat he posed. Not surprised he came off early in the second half. 5/10

Emile Smith Rowe

Just at a bit of a loss with Smith Rowe really. Forget the fee, he’s just the ultimate ‘luxury player’ that a Marco Silva Fulham team, made of misfits giving 110% for each other, cannot afford to have. Every pass to Willian or first touch on the half turn may have looked good, but it was all so simple under zero pressure. When asked to do anything under pressure from the opposition, or when prompted to do anything instinctively, his talent just does not shine through. He wants too long on the ball to show any ability in the final third, and it shows week after week. So frustrating once again. 5/10

Willian

Meh, OK I guess. There were so many times when Willian received the ball on the left, and from memory of what he was capable of, I’m sat expecting him to manipulate space at speed in dangerous areas. But he doesn’t do that anymore. Bar one decent curled effort in the second half that whistled past the post, everything Willian did that was good was oh-so basic, and a sign of the age he’s reached. He’ll be OK to fill in for another couple of months, but we simply must move on from this type of signing if this club wants to evolve at all into next season. 6/10

Raul Jimenez

As per usual with Raul, you really cannot fault the effort that goes into his game. He runs the channels well, puts his body about to win fouls in dangerous areas and does his best to link play with those around him. Ultimately, most of the service came after Raul came on, which probably justifies the frustration he showed when he came off just after the hour mark. 6.5/10

Substitutes

Adama Traore (63’ for Iwobi)

Didn’t really bark up many trees against a tiring Tottenham Hotspur defence in the final half an hour. His first touch seemed constantly off and his decision making was particularly poor, especially on a couple of occasions when Pereira was running past him into space down the right. 5.5/10

Rodrigo Muniz (63’ for Jimenez)

An absolutely wonderful cameo from the Brazilian, topped off with a beautifully composed goal that ended up being decisive in the tie. Muniz bullied the Spurs defenders in the air and held play up technically better than Jimenez had before him and made the most of the service afforded to him. 8.5/10

Tom Cairney (72’ for Smith Rowe)

Added superb control to Fulham’s build up play just as the game had started to open up and turn into an end-to-end affair, which normally would suit how Postecoglu wants to play football. The balance he added gave extra freedom for Andreas to venture forward and help create chances to win the game. 7.5/10

Ryan Sessegnon (87 for Willian) came on too late to be fairly assessed but obviously deserves credit for a phenomenally taken goal that capped off a huge win.

Manager

Marco Silva

Deserves immense credit for the changes he made, as he often does. Recognising difference that could be made by adding the pace and intensity of Muniz and Adama for the tiring Jimenez and frustratingly poor Iwobi took momentum from Spurs, making the game more balanced, before Cairney came on to provide us with the control then ultimately pushed Fulham to win the game. Despite a fairly mundane first hour of play before the substitutions kicked in, Fulham were the better side, offering far more control in possession which set us on our way to having a chance to beat Spurs in the latter stages. Was also nice to see Silva not be stubborn and stick with a back five that, more often than not this year, hasn’t quite worked. 8/10