On Monday, January 24, Fulham F.C., ranked 7th in the premier league, went against number 5 seed in the Premier League, the Tottenham Spurs. Set to meet at Craven Cottage, the home of the Fulham soccer club, this game was critical for both the Spurs and Fulham. The Spurs, if they won, would advance to the top four, and Fulham would move their ranking from seven to five.

With such a key game, both teams changed their lineup. Fulham placed the American left back, Antonee Robinson in exchange for Layvin Kurzawa. For the Spurs, there are 3 changes. The Spurs placed Rodrigo Bentacur and Emerson Royal in the midfield and Ben Davies on defense.

The kickoff was delayed for 15 minutes due to issues regarding the London Underground. After the issues were resolved, the game got underway.

Nine minutes in the first shot of the game came from Fulham forward Bobby Ried. The Spurs and South Korean forward Hueng-Min Son tried to move forward, but the ball was stolen away by Kenny Tete of Fulham. He passed it to fellow teammate Bobby Ried who got the shot on target, but Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris made a nice save.

13 minutes into the game the Spurs got their first shot, after defender Ben Davies tried for an uncontrolled heel shot that went flying over the goal.

15 minutes in, Fulham Midfielder João Palhinha came in with a sliding tackle on Spurs Midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, and received the first yellow card of the game. 3 minutes after the card, Fulham player Bobby Ried gave a perfect curled pass to teammate Harrison Reed who was close to the goal though Lloris came in at the last moment and saved it. A few minutes later, and Fulham came back to try for another goal, however this time it was their top goalscorer Alexsander Mitrovic with a solid header that went wide of the net. 4 minutes after Mitrovic’s miss, Spurs forward Hueng-Min Son got a yellow card, the first one for the Spurs.

32 minutes in, Spurs and England International Star Harry Kane danced between players, but his shot went past the bar. 3 minutes later Emerson Royal of the Spurs took a shot but it was saved by Fulham goalie Bernd Leno.

41st minute Fulham got a free kick. The ball was sent into the 6-yard box and João Palhinha got a close header, but it went high over the bar.

45 + 1 minute and Tottenham’s Son drove into the Fulham side looking for options and found Harry Kane. He passed it off and Kane moved to the right, took a second, then shot with his right foot and in it went, Goal!!!. This was Kane’s 266th goal at the club and the one that made him the all-time joint Goalscorer with Jimmy Greaves

Fulham, after the goal, tried to rebound with five shots on goal, three involving Mitrovic but none went in. Kane had another chance, probably the closest one, but Leno of Fulham saved it.
65 minutes in, Fulham made their first of four subs with Harrison Reed for Tom Cairney. Spurs Defender Christian Romero came with a dashing kick for ball in the 70th minute but connected the kick with Mitrovic’s chest, getting the second yellow card for the Spurs. 76 minutes in and Spurs made one out of two Subs, changing Son for Brazilian international Richarlison. Right after, Betancur of Spurs gots the last yellow card of the game. Tete, Reid and Willian were all subbed out for three of the Fulham subs.
90+2 Dejan Kulusevski of Spurs made way for Yeves Bissouma and four minutes later the final whistle blew, ending the game and the Spurs earning three points to their Premier league position.