Gil absent again
Naming the same XI from last Thursday's 4-2 defeat against Man City, Antonio Conte made one alteration to his substitutes' bench for Monday's game at Fulham. The only change saw Oliver Skipp come back into the squad following his omission at the Etihad Stadium as Pape Matar Sarr made way.
There was to be no place for Bryan Gil again after the Spaniard was not fit enough to be included at Man City after sustaining a knock in training leading up to the game. His absence indicates that the Spain Under-21 star is not there in terms of his fitness just yet and all will be hoping he can return this weekend when the team visit Championship side Preston North End in the FA Cup.
Ahead of Monday's match at Craven Cottage, Gil did upload an image to his Instagram stories of him working on an exercise bike at the club's Hotspur Way training base. Adding a muscle and battery emoji to the photo, he is clearly still working on his fitness as he looks to get back up to full speed as soon as possible.
READ MORE: Tottenham player ratings vs Fulham: Harry Kane hits record goal but Son and Perisic quiet
Dier so close to shock opener
Meant to kick-off at 8pm at Craven Cottage, it wasn't until almost 8.20pm when the game finally commenced. Pushed back by 15 minutes due to issues on the London Underground network, referee Paul Tierney then had some problems with his technical equipment moments before proceedings were about to get underway, thus leading to a further delay for a couple more minutes.
Those inside the stadium where then almost treated to a shock opener from Eric Dier inside the first 60 seconds. Going into a challenge with his opponent, the England international, who was around the halfway mark, put his foot through the ball and it left Bernd Leno nervously backtracking to his line.
In the end his clearance just had too much on it and it just went over the crossbar and dropped on the top of the netting instead, sparing Leno's blushes in the process. Adding goals to his game this season with two strikes, Dier wasn't that far away at all from registering a third.
Kane's moment of class
Seeing Fulham dominating the game from the off, it was a rather frustrating one for Tottenham's front three with the ball just not coming their way. They saw that little of it that Harry Kane only managed four touches inside the opening 30 minutes.
Finally managing to have a say on the game by turning Tim Ream and shooting just over the crossbar following a driving run, it was in first-half stoppage time when the England captain really demonstrated why he is one of the best players in the world. Receiving the ball on the edge of the box and swivelling to get a sight of goal, Kane unleashed a sublime curling effort that gave Leno no chance as it flew into the bottom corner.
Not only did it see the Lilywhites take the lead against the run of play, the strike also saw him draw level with Jimmy Greaves on 266 goals for the club. The academy graduate was then inches away from breaking the record around the hour mark, with Leno saving extremely well from close range after the striker had looked set to convert Ben Davies' header across goal.
Romero's increasing yellow card total
Struggling in the opening stages of the game and losing possession in key areas a number of times with sloppy passing, it took a while for Cristian Romero to grow into the game. Always set to be handed a test with Fulham boasting Willian and Aleksandar Mitrovic in attack, Romero was given a yellow card for a very high boot on the Serbian midway through the second half.
It turned out to be his fourth booking in five games for Tottenham since returning from the World Cup in Qatar, with the 4-0 win away at Crystal Palace the only match where he didn't receive a caution. His fifth yellow of the season in the league, Romero and Spurs are very lucky that the cut-off point for five cautions from a team's first 19 league games has now passed.
The next hurdle Romero has to negotiate is not picking up ten yellow cards in total up to and including Spurs' 32nd league games as that will incur a two-match suspension instead. That might be quite a challenge for Romero at the rate he is going after those four yellows since league football resumed in December.
Top-four boost
Following those back-to-back defeats against Arsenal and Man City, Tottenham needed to bounce back to winning ways with three points at Fulham. That's exactly what they did courtesy of Kane's excellent strike on the cusp of half-time.
Needing the victory to boost the confidence levels after a tough week, it was also imperative that they recorded maximum points to keep up the pressure on Newcastle United and Manchester United in third and fourth respectively. Now three points behind their rivals having played a game more, the table makes for much better reading.
The victory also saw Spurs capitalise on those between third and tenth not winning in this matchday round. It means Spurs have a five-point cushion over Brighton & Hove Albion and Fulham having come into the weekend knowing that either side could potentially leapfrog them in the table.
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