It feels like there might be a lot of this between now and the end of the season. The title and relegation are effectively resolved, which means all that remains is the squabble over European qualification with nine teams in the mix for (probably) six places. The result was a strange, threequarter-pace game.
It would be unfair to say both sides were going through the motions but, equally, this wasn’t the most intense game you’ll ever see. It had seemed a phenomenon many thought impossible: a game even Angeball couldn’t make interesting. Tottenham’s defending, though, can conjure goals from anything.
Related: Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea: Premier League – live reaction
The game had seemed to be drifting to stalemate when Spurs twice failed to clear, and Andreas Pereira reacted sharply to control Adama Traoré’s jab into the box and then shovel the ball on to Rodrigo Muniz, who rolled a neat finish just beyond the scrabble of Guglielmo Vicario. As if that weren’t generous enough, Ben Davies was then muscled off a bouncing ball by Ryan Sessegnon, who whipped a fine finish into the top corner. He rejoined the club from Spurs in the summer.
Fulham had rather more on the line than Spurs and it showed. The win lifted them to eighth, still outside likely European qualification but within three points of a Champions League place. Just as significantly, perhaps, the game served as an audition for Marco Silva if Ange Postecoglou is shuffled out in the summer and if he is interested in taking the job. The two exchanged a notably protracted hug before kick-off, Postecoglou laughing as his right arm waved animatedly. You could only imagine what he was saying: “Don’t take it, mate. It’s an absolute shambles.”
Now 36, Willian made his first start for Fulham since rejoining the club in January. He was typically involved – it’s easy to see why Silva is such a fan – and for much of the first half the game seemed principally to involve Willian snapping at the heels of Djed Spence as the Spurs defender was forced back towards his own goal. There was a scurrying run and a low shot deflected just wide early in the second half and a late long-range effort that also arced past a post, but the highlight, though, was an extravagant volleyed flick with outside of his ankle to Emile Smith Rowe.
Tottenham are not one of those sides chasing Europe through league placing, their potential route to the Champions League lying in the Europa League. That is now very clearly the priority, with the result that their side featured seven changes from the win against AZ Alkmaar on Thursday. Given how many injuries Spurs have suffered this season, how exhausted they have appeared at times, that was an entirely understandable decision: rotation is either necessary or it’s not.
With no James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski or Lucas Bergvall, Tottenham were always going to struggle for creativity. The double change at half-time, Son Heung-min and Bergvall coming on for Brennan Johnson and Yves Bissouma seemed more a reaction to that early flatness than a pre-planned move to spread the minutes around.
It was Bergvall’s 52nd-minute cross that led to Spurs’ first real chance, Dominic Solanke heading just wide. This was the second successive game in which Bissouma was withdrawn at half-time. Given 12 players have played more minutes than him this season and he has only one year left on his contract, it would be little surprise were he to be offloaded in the summer.
-
Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for 'The Guardian'.
-
If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
-
In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
-
Turn on sport notifications.
Replacing him in Tottenham’s midfield, perhaps, could be Archie Gray, who, on his 13th league start for the club at last was used in his preferred position. The 19-year-old is a player of exceptional talent as he demonstrated by completing more than 90% of his passes and will surely in time make the deep-lying midfield role his own. But his most significant contribution was defensive, hacking the ball clear from inside the six-yard box as Spurs withstood an extended period of Fulham pressure in the minutes leading up to half-time. Otherwise, there was very little for Tottenham to take from the game.
For Fulham, though, the prospect of a return to European competition is very real. Five points now separate fourth from 10th; there might not be much to play for elsewhere but upper mid-table is shaping up to be a real dogfight.
