Premier League: Fulham 1 Tottenham 3

Tottenham were made to dig deep to take home the three points from Craven Cottage on Sunday.

First-half goals from Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon and another in second-half stoppage time from Jermain Defoe sealed the win as the hosts’ second-half display was not quite enough to earn a draw.

Tottenham wasted no time in getting their noses in front as a speedy run on the right from full-back Kyle Walker stretched the Fulham defence after 10 minutes.

The 21-year-old’s cut-back to Lennon was smashed to the far post until Mark Schwarzer deflected the ball wide to his right. The danger was still present as Bale put the ball back into the area only for Chris Baird to slide the ball into his own net.

A blow to the nose of Scott Parker caused a break in play after 20 minutes as the England international had to leave the field to be patched up with blood running.

Shortly after, Fulham broke the Tottenham defence with Clint Dempsey’s low shot being pushed away by fellow American Brad Friedel.

With the visitors in the lead, Fulham had to take the lead in the game and an unexpected figure in Emmanuel Adebayor came to the rescue for Tottenham to keep the lead intact.

From a free-kick on the right, the striker made a couple of headers to help out his defenders and maintain the advantage.

Teamwork between Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Bale and Lennon produced the second goal for Tottenham in first half stoppage time. The three moved the ball with ease with quick passing and crisp running which sprung the winger to slide in the second goal of the game.

The period finished with Fulham’s Zdenek Grygera appearing to twist his left knee and being carried from the field on a stretcher.

Whatever Jol told his side in the dressing at half-time certainly did the trick as the home side came flying out of the blocks. Shots were flying in for Fulham with Duff and Zamora both testing the defence.

This sustained pressure paid off from a corner when a Ledley King header hit the back of Younes Kaboul and beyond Friedel with the big defender knowing little about it.

The openings kept coming for Fulham and Baird nearly made amends for his involvement in the first goal with a smashed effort at goal which required Freidel to pull off another classy save. The warning bells must have been ringing loud and clear for Tottenham as the Fulham revival was unabated.

Dempsey would have been kicking himself after 74 minutes as he broke through the centre-half pairing and bore down on goal only to see his shot knocked wide by King whose slid was a crucial intervention, the chance to level up gone.

The final moments of the game summed up Fulham’s day perfectly. Two goal line scrambles kept everyone on the edge of the seats but brilliant concentration for Friedel and a huge slice of luck kept Fulham out.

And, as to twist the knife, Tottenham’s next attack killed the game with Jermain Defoe volleying in from a cross.