Fulham 1 (Dejagah 57), Tottenham 2 (Chiriches 73, Holtby 82)
This was a game of firsts. Ashkan Dejagah chose some moment to score his first goal for Fulham and his nerveless finish from Dimitar Berbatov's wonderful pass looked set to fire the Rene Meulensteen era at the club.
His timing was in. The owner Shahid Khan was in attendance to see the team in the first game since Martin Jol’s sacking. And yet Tottenham Hotspur salvaged something in dramatic fashion, when Vlad Chiriches’ wild equaliser was topped by the substitute Lewis Holtby’s brilliant winner.
Chiriches had addressed a corner that had been cleared to him from very long range and he tried his luck. His sweet low strike kept going and going, and it flashed into the bottom corner of Maarten Stekelenburg’s net. It was Chiriches’s first goal in Tottenham colours since his arrival in the summer. Fulham looked stunned.
Tottenham, though, were not finished and Holtby completed the stunning turnaround when he jinked in from the right and unloaded a vicious left-footed drive that beat Stekelenburg.
Tottenham were not entirely pretty but the result meant everything for them and Andre Villas-Boas. This was a first Premier League win in five matches.
Giorgos Karagounis forced Lloris to work with a low shot from distance before Dimitar Berbatov went agonisingly close. From Pajtim Kasami's cross, he found time and space to bring down the ball and hook a shot for the corner. Lloris's reflex save was magnificent. Dejagah also headed narrowly over the crossbar on 25 minutes.
Early save
Jermain Defoe, preferred to Roberto Soldado, had drawn an early save from Stekelenburg after a loose pass from John Arne Riise but Tottenham's gilt-edged opening came when Sascha Riether miscontrolled a high punt forward from Michael Dawson, following a Fulham corner. Aaron Lennon and Defoe combined to set up Paulinho, who stepped inside two challenges and blazed his shot over the crossbar.
Villas-Boas introduced Holtby for Etienne Capoue at half-time, ostensibly an attacking change but it did see him drop Paulinho into a deeper midfield role.Tottenham went close early in the second-half through Defoe and Sandro but it was Fulham who scored the opening goal. It was deserved.
Dawson will not enjoy the inquest. His poor ball dropped Paulinho into trouble and when Scott Parker robbed him, Tottenham looked stretched. It still needed a moment of high quality, however, from Berbatov to weight the diagonal pass that put Dejagah away. Confronted by Lloris, his low finish into the far corner was marked by composure.
Villas-Boas desperately needed a response and it came from an unlikely source and in unlikely fashion. Kyle Walker’s corner was poor and it was easily cleared by the first man and there appeared little on when Chiriches swung his left boot at the ball from 30 yards. But the contract was sweet and the shot flew low into the bottom corner.
There was more. Walker passed to Holtby and, after one touch, he brought the hammer down on a left-footed drive that fizzed past Stekelenburg.
Fulham hit the post in the dying moments to leave Meulensteen with a sinking feeling and there was to be no late equaliser.
It felt harsh for Fulham but nobody at Tottenham was complaining.
Guardian Service
FULHAM: Stekelenburg, Riether, Senderos, Hughes, Riise, Dejagah, Karagounis (Sidwell 62), Parker (Ruiz 87), Kacaniklic (Duff 85), Kasami, Berbatov. Subs not used: Stockdale, Taarabt, Zverotic, Boateng. Booked: Kasami, Senderos. TOTTENHAM: Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Chiriches, Vertonghen, Sandro (Chadli 69), Capoue (Holtby 46), Lamela (Townsend 78), Paulinho, Lennon, Defoe. Subs not used: Soldado, Naughton, Sigurdsson, Friedel. Booked: Capoue.
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).
Attendance: 24, 128
