Back from their break and back in the groove. There will surely come a time when this season of hope and possibility throws Tottenham against a wall of reality, but not yet.
For now they are having a wonderful old time with it. Not enough to go crazy, but enough to expand the party and partially answer the little questions that pile up around a fast start.
In this case, and also in the more difficult tasks that follow, they will wonder how Ange Postecoglou’s side will cope with the increasing rise in expectations. The subtle increase in pressure that comes with success. That hasn’t always been a favorable survey for Tottenham, but for now they’re ticking off the signs of progress and doing so with a lot of swagger. What a great team to watch when things are going well for them.
The perspective is that this was of course a win against Fulham. Good side, Fulham. They moved it here, they broke hard, had a few chances but ultimately were second best in most respects and, crucially, were punished with ferocious efficiency when they got sloppy.
On two occasions, at the end of the first half and the start of the second, that meant sloppy passing from Cavin Bassey and crushing, definitive responses. Heung-Min Son provided the first of these with his seventh goal of a season that heralded his revival almost as emphatically as his club’s recovery.
Son Heung-min scored the opening goal as Spurs beat Fulham 2-0 to top the table
James Maddison scored his first home goal for Tottenham ten minutes into the second half
For what it’s worth, the strike was a thing of beauty. The next wasn’t too shabby either, with Bassey’s mistake under pressure setting off a counter that saw Son set Maddison aside for his third of the campaign. As with the first, the move was packed with style, speed and functionality, and the result is that Postecoglou has now scored 23 points from his first nine league games in charge – a trivial Premier League record, but one that says a lot about the momentum from Tottenham. since he picked up the pieces.
For this assignment, a modest challenge in the schedule of a long season, the Australian made only one change to his line-up and that was out of necessity: Yves Bissouma suspended and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg elevated for a first start of the season. .
It was a scenario that prompted some thoughts: How would Hojbjerg respond to a rare opportunity? And, more fundamentally, how could Tottenham cope with the absence of Bissouma, who excelled as shield and sword in Postecoglou’s midfield.
The latter is a question that will become even more important if the Malian disappears before the Africa Cup of Nations, but in this case Hojbjerg was a more than solid alternative; a solid platform from which Tottenham made a fast start.
Within six minutes that meant Fulham had to commit three risky fouls in dangerous places with a series of quick rotations between James Maddison, Richarlison and Pedro Porro. The closest Spurs came, amid that flurry of set-piece opportunities, was a volley over Micky van de Ven’s crossbar.
But they played well. Fast, decisive, aggressive, as is their way of doing things.
Some praise for Fulham in response: they spent most of the opening period without the ball, but were quick and to the point when they had the ball, with Joao Palhinha particularly effective. Assisted by the attacks of Antonee Robinson on the left and Timothy Castagne who did the same on the right, he had outlets and in those combinations they had a few chances. The best of these was Palhinha’s header after 12 minutes, which produced a brilliant save from Guglielmo Vicario.
It made for a fun game, but Spurs were better. After one quick move and a counter into the space left by Robinson’s attack, Richarlison went a fraction wide. In the next inning, Son, made possible by a loose pass from Bassey and an interception from Micky van de Ven, gave the home team the lead. His turn to lose Tim Ream was striking; its finish even better.
Marco Silva responded with two substitutions at half-time, but Spurs resumed at an irresistible pace. Richarlison scored an early chance – his goal confidence seems non-existent – but Maddison soon made it 2-0. As in the opener, Fulham were complicit in their demise, with Bassey again guilty of a poor ball, which was intercepted by Hojbjerg and fed to Son, before Maddison slotted past Bernd Leno from a one-on-one. Of his eight goals this season, it was the Englishman’s first on home field.
Fulham had chances for a consolation, most prominently when Raul Jimenez put through Vicario in the closing moments. As with so many other things, the exchange went in Tottenham’s favour.