With a 2-0 victory over Fulham at home on Monday, Tottenham Hotspur‘s finest start to a top-flight season in more than 60 years went from good to better.
James Maddison’s first home goal for the team and captain Son Heung-min’s seventh league goal of the year gave the team their seventh victory in nine league games.
Son scored his 50th goal at Tottenham’s brand-new stadium since it opened in 2019 with a right-footed strike into the top corner in the 36th minute. Son then set up playmaker Maddison to score with a clinical finish early in the second half.
Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs are unbeaten in the league and now have 23 points, two more than the league leaders Manchester City and their regional rivals Arsenal. On Friday, they have an opportunity to advance five points when they travel to Crystal Palace.
With 11 points, Fulham is in 13th place following a dismal performance despite a few late chances as Tottenham relaxed.
The sole blip in Postecoglou’s otherwise stellar debut in north London came when the west London team eliminated Tottenham on penalties in the League Cup.
Postecoglou, who was hired away from Celtic with the goal of reviving the team’s fortunes, has now had the best Premier League season debut of any new manager.
The Australian was not totally satisfied with his team’s performance, despite yet another victory.
He told Sky Sports, “It was a good result since Fulham are a hard team to break down. “The second half wasn’t terrific, and we didn’t play at levels anywhere close to what we are capable of; we were wasteful.
“You have to respect the game, and it can drag you down if you are a little off.” I wasn’t very satisfied with the liberties we took. We played the ball the worst after 45 minutes.
FRONT-FOOT STYLE
Son was denied by Fulham’s Bernd Leno, a former Arsenal goalkeeper, as Tottenham’s front-foot style was again evident as they created chances early on.
After a sweeping play, Richarlison side-footed wide, and defender Micky van de Ven also volleyed an opportunity over the crossbar.
Joao Palhinha had Fulham’s finest chance in the first half, but Guglielmo Vicario made a terrific stop.
When Calvin Bassey mishandled a ball out of defense, the visitors gave Spurs a helping hand to open the scoring. Richarlison found Son, who slipped to his right before curling a shot past Leno.
Since joining Tottenham from Leicester City in the offseason, Maddison has been at the center of most of the team’s greatest work. He was quickly rewarded for his efforts.
Son passed the ball to England international Maddison, who opened out his body and drove a beautiful low finish past Leno, to stop Bassey from making another sloppily executed pass.
Maddison, Son, and Richarlison were all replaced in the second half due to a game on Friday, which caused Tottenham to lose focus and maybe pay the price.
Nevertheless, Fulham missed out on a number of late opportunities, including one that fell to Harry Wilson because he took too long to take a shot.
Fulham manager Marco Silva, who has never experienced a Premier League victory over Spurs, remarked, “In the second half we ramped up the pressure a little, but in the end, we come away with nothing.”
“Maybe unlucky to not score one or two after which we are talking regarding a different result.”