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Writer's pictureBobby Vincent

Fulham 1-2 Tottenham

Harry Winks scored a 93rd minute winner as Tottenham Hotspur clinched it right at the end against Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Fulham took the lead after Fernando Llorente scored an own goal, with the Cottagers producing a fine first-half performance.

Dele Alli scored early in the second-half, with Spurs producing an impressive first-half performance at the Cottage.

Image via @PremierLeague on Twitter

 

Ryan Babel was starting his first Premier League game for Fulham, almost nine years since his last game in England.

Llorente was playing up-front for Spurs, who are missing star-striker Harry Kane through injury until March. Son Heung-Min is on international duty with South Korea.

It was Babel with the first chance of the game. Wrestling with Davinson Sanchez, the Netherlands winger did really well and finally got a left-footed shot away but it was too easy for Hugo Lloris.

Llorente, brought in to try and add goals for Spurs, rather unfortunately turned into his own net, when the ball hit hit from a corner on 17 minutes.

Image via @PremierLeague on Twitter

The experienced Spanish striker should have redeemed himself five minutes later, when Jan Vertonghen's cross from the left found Llorente, who headed straight at Sergio Rico.

Babel was looking lively in the opening exchanges at Craven Cottage, with his speed that he shown at Liverpool, clearly still there.

The 32-year-old had another golden chance to open his Fulham account, when Cyrus Christie delivered a wonderful cross - but Babel couldn't guide his header towards goal.

Fulham thought they'd doubled their lead when Aleksandr Mitrovic found the net, but the Serbian striker was deemed offside after Andre Schurrle's initial volley was palmed to Mitrovic by Lloris.

The hosts had a dominant final five minutes of the first-half, and after some missed chances; you wondered whether it'd come back to haunt the Cottagers.

Image via @PremierLeague on Twitter

The second-half started and Spurs knew they had to attack a lot better than they did in the first-half.

Alli met Christian Eriksen's cross on 51 minutes, leaving the England midfielder with an easy header, and he made no mistake of levelling the contest.

Spurs were on top now and a surging run from Danny Rose ended with the left-back rattling the crossbar via a deflection.

Llorente missed a sitter in the last 10 minutes after a Rose free-kick found the striker who put wide from close-range.

Alli appeared to pull a hamstring with not long remaining to add to Spurs' injury woes.

Winks' diving header in the third minute of stoppage-time won it for Tottenham, and it was heartbreak for Claudio Ranieri and his team.

 

The Managers

Fulham manager Claudio Ranieri: "The first-half was fantastic for us. We scored, maybe there was a penalty too after our goal. The second-half they tried to do their best but the two goals, we lacked experience.

"With one minute at the end we had a free-kick and put it in the box, why? Take it to the corner. I think our fans are happy for their performance and we must continue this way. I am confident and haven't lost my confidence about the team."

Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino: "The performance was solid, although maybe not great. Fulham are a team who needed to win and we struggled a little bit in the first-half, because from set-pieces, they work so hard.

"After Manchester United, it was a tough week for us because there were some negative bits around the team, but we turned it into a positive today."

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