Fulham 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur: Kane pulls level with Greaves and fires Spurs to away win

A win! Incredible! Tottenham Hotspur went across town to Craven Cottage against a Fulham team that has ambitions of their own, and in a hard fought match in the bitter cold, delayed 15 minutes by a rail closure, Tottenham got three points with a 1-0 win and Harry Kane made history — Kane scored in the first minute of extra time in the first half, a lovely low strike assisted by Son Heung-Min, that put him level with the late, great Jimmy Greaves as Tottenham’s joint all-time top goal scorer with 266 career goals.

I’m gonna be honest — the delayed start to this match meant I missed a not-insignificant chunk of the late second half as I was commuting home, but these are my notes from the parts I did see. (I was later informed most of that commute was spent while Aleksandr Mitrovic was on the ground hurt).

Reactions

• We won a game! Hooray!
• Look, Dier’s had his moments of frustration (today included), but I did appreciate him trying to lob Bernd Leno seconds after kickoff from the halfway line. That shot was actually pretty close and would’ve been hilarious.
• What is it about this current Tottenham team and not being able to string more than two passes together? It’s mind-blowing how poorly they passed the ball in the first half. Second half was better, at least early.
• I’m glad Harry Kane scored there at the end of the first half because Spurs pretty much played like hot garbage otherwise. Banger of a goal, too. Thought he had the second one as well, but Leno made a ridiculous reaction stop.
• On Kane: it seemed ludicrous that anyone would ever catch Jimmy Greaves’ record. As recently as three years ago I didn’t think Kane would get it. What a player. An incredible achievement.
• This match was ROUGH. And by that I mean both teams were throwing bodies everywhere. Tons of hard challenges, tough tackles, high boots, and injuries. Proper London derby, innit? (Fulham were rougher and got away with more)
• Emerson Royal was good… again! He really is at his best when he’s supporting Kulusevski and not being relied upon to actually put in crosses.
• I think Ivan Perisic might be done. Some really questionable plays again tonight, none worse than the high boot in the box that very easily could’ve been a yellow and a Fulham penalty.
• No idea how Palhinha didn’t pick up a second yellow in this match. I swear he had four yellow cards. Ludicrous how England officials are hesitant to call a second yellow unless they tear off someone’s leg or something.
• From the Slack: “Son looks like the Monstars stole his talent.” But he did have an assist…
• At this point I don’t care how the wins come, I just want the wins. Spurs are now three points away from third, despite everything. What a weird season.
• Next match: FA Cup Fourth Round at Preston North End this weekend.