Tottenham Hotspur’s Carabao Cup campaign came to an abrupt end on Tuesday as they were dumped out of the competition at the hands of Fulham.
Ange Postecoglou opted to rotate his squad, giving his fringe players the chance to impress, but things got off to a nightmare start when Micky van de Ven inadvertedly put the ball into the back of his own net midway through the first half.
Richarlison headed home early in the second half to tie things up and the scoreline would remain tied up until the final whistle, with the game skipping extra time and heading straight for penalties.
In the end, it would be Davinson Sanchez who missed the costly penalty, sending Spurs crashing out of the Carabao Cup.
How the game unfolded
A slow first half took a while to get going, with Spurs dominating possession but offering very little in attack. Fulham looked the liveliest but, for the first 20 minutes, neither really looked like scoring.
The hosts would get the lead their play deserved when Bobby De Cordova-Reid’s cross ricocheted up in the air off Van de Ven and looped into the back of the net, with Ivan Perisic’s attempted acrobatics only sending the ball further across the line.
Harrison Reed, whose pressure contributed to Van de Ven’s own goal, perhaps should have added a second of his own soon after, rising highest to meet a cross but failing to get any sort of accuracy on his effort.
Fulham sat back to defend their lead and allowed Tottenham plenty of chances to fly forward, but Postecoglou’s much-changed side rarely looked like tying things up in a lacklustre first 45 minutes.
The second half began in similar fashion but Spurs did manage to find a way through seven minutes in. With the excellent Kenny Tete off the field finding a new boot, Perisic went at makeshift defender De Cordova-Reid and crossed in for Richarlison to head home.
De Cordova-Reid had the chance to fire Fulham back in front soon after but the winger lost his footing as he lunged for the ball and ultimately sliced a good chance wide of Fraser Forster’s post.
Postecoglou turned to his bench in search of the energy which has defined Spurs’ start to the Premier League and, predictably, the visitors grew in confidence once their top stars entered the field.
However, the lack of quality in front of goal persisted and ultimately a penalty shoot-out would be needed to separate the two teams.
Andreas Pereira rolled home to get things underway before Son Heung-min, Raul Jimenez, Dejan Kulusevski and Harry Wilson all converted, but Davinson Sanchez’s torrid evening culminated in seeing his effort saved by Marek Rodak.
Joao Palhinha made the most of Sanchez’s miss by scoring himself, and even though James Maddison found the back of the net for Spurs, it was Fulham who secured the win as Tete kept his cool from 12 yards.
GK: Marek Rodak – 6/10 – Barely involved. A surprisingly quiet night for the stand-in stopper.
RB: Kenny Tete – 8/10 – Really impactful at both ends of the field. Caused plenty of problems for Davies while also looking comfortable up against Perisic. Fulham only conceded when Tete was forced off the field.
CB: Issa Diop – 6/10 – Never looks particularly comfortable these days but will be thankful not to have been worked too hard by Richarlison.
CB: Tim Ream – 7/10 – Agile beyond his years as he comfortably dealt with Richarlison. Led the backline with real intelligence.
LB: Antonee Robinson – 7/10 – Clearly has been working on his crossing. Robinson was a major threat for Fulham going forwards.
DM: Joao Palhinha – 7/10 – Typically dominant in the midfield battle. Far too physical for Spurs’ rotated options but didn’t lack technical class either.
DM: Harrison Reed – 7/10 – Another energetic showing from Reed, whose determination led to the own goal.
RM: Adama Traore – 6/10 – Traore is known for his ridiculous athleticism and limited end product, and they were both on show here. He caused plenty of problems for Spurs’ defenders but rarely made the most of it.
AM: Tom Cairney – 7/10 – Pulled the strings with real quality. His movement and footwork for the opening goal were both impressive.
LM: Bobby De Cordova-Reid – 6/10 – Not as involved as the rest of Fulham’s forward line but did play the cross which led to Van de Ven’s blunder.
ST: Rodrigo Muniz – 6/10 – Really impressive work rate but couldn’t make the most of it in front of goal. Definitely did enough to intrigue some loan suitors.
Substitutes
SUB: Harry Wilson (60′ for Traore) – 6/10
SUB: Andreas Pereira (77′ for De Cordova-Reid) – 6/10
SUB: Luke Harris (77′ for Reed) – 6/10
SUB: Raul Jimenez (83′ for Muniz) – N/A
SUB: Tyrese Francois (83′ for Cairney) – N/A
Subs not used: Leno (GK), De Fougerolles, Mbabu, Vinicius
Manager
Luis Boa Morte – 7/10 – With a suspended Marco Silva sat in the stands, Boa Morte was calling the shots on the sidelines. The duo came up with a gameplan which clearly unsettled Tottenham and deserved a win inside 90 minutes.
GK: Fraser Forster – 6/10 – Couldn’t do a whole lot about Van de Ven’s own goal and did actually make some impressive saves to keep Spurs in the game.
RB: Emerson Royal – 5/10 – Didn’t offer enough going forward and was caught out as De Cordova-Reid set up the opening goal.
CB: Davinson Sanchez – 2/10 – Looked terrified from minute one. Sanchez was guilty of a handful of errors, both directly and indirectly, and will most certainly not have endeared himself to Postecoglou. A poor penalty to cost his side.
CB: Micky van de Ven – 5/10 – Largely impressive defending aside from his unfortunate own goal.
LB: Ben Davies – 5/10 – His limited techincal ability clearly hamstrung Tottenham, who lacked any sort of outlet from defence.
DM: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 4/10 – Failed to protect Spurs’ backline and was thoroughly outbattled by both Palhinha and Reed. Another who won’t have done his chances of remaining at the club any good.
CM: Oliver Skipp – 5/10 – Too safe with his passing. Looked nervous when asked to try and make something happen.
CM: Giovani Lo Celso – 5/10 – Solid work rate but limited end product before being hooked at half-time.
RW: Manor Solomon – 5/10 – The only Spurs player who actually looked comfortable in possession, but he still failed to do anything of note. Poor pressing also didn’t help things.
ST: Richarlison – 5/10 – Barely involved before his headed equaliser which, to his credit, he took very well.
LW: Ivan Perisic – 5/10 – Another who struggled horribly but benefited from Tete’s temporary absence, there’s no denying Perisic’s cross was a sweet one.
Substitutes
SUB: Dane Scarlett (46′ for Lo Celso) – 4/10
SUB: Son Heung-min (71′ for Perisic) – 6/10
SUB: Dejan Kulusevski (71′ for Richarlison ) – 5/10
SUB: Pape Matar Sarr (71′ for Skipp) – 6/10
SUB: James Maddison (82′ for Solomon) – N/A
Subs not used: Vicario (GK), Udogie, Romero, Bissouma
Manager
Ange Postecoglou – 5/10 – Postecoglou had to juggle squad rotation with the quest for victory and, ultimately, he paid the price for trying to rely on his reserves.