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Tottenham rebounds to beat Fulham

Tottenham Hotspur's Jermain Defoe scores the opening goal against Fulham during their English Premiership soccer match at the White Hart Lane stadium in London on Monday. PHOTO: EPA

Tottenham bounced back from last week's ignomious League Cup exit with a 1-0 win over London rivals Fulham on Monday that lifted Martin Jol's side to fourth in the Premiership table.

Jermain Defoe's 8th-minute strike, which ended a run of five games without a goal for the England forward, was enough to secure the three points at White Hart Lane and send Fulham down to just one place above the relegation zone.

From the outset, Spurs appeared determined to eradicate the memory of their embarrassing defeat at the hands of League Two club Grimsby Town last week.

"When you play at home you have to get the confidence of the crowd back and we did that," Jol said.

"We are still as sick as a parrot over the Grimsby result. They were a second division side and the League Cup is still the quickest way into Europe. But today we proved we are a good team," he said.

Fulham boss Chris Coleman felt his side had done enough to earn a draw.

"I thought we deserved a point. We looked solid enough and had our fair share of possession but our last pass was not there. We defended well enough, we were strong in midfield but in the last third our final pass was not good enough and when we got chances we didn't finish them," Coleman said.

South Korean full-back Lee Young-Pyo set the tone by trying his luck from 40 yards with a drive that Tony Warner could only palm round the post. And with barely seven minutes gone, the home side had taken the lead.

Fulham's back four were caught flat-footed by Ledley King's long ball through the inside-left channel and Defoe sprinted away before beating Warner with a left-foot finish from 12 yards.

Fulham's response came from Danish midfielder Claus Jensen, who combined with Steed Malbranque before rattling a shot on to the cross bar.

That was to prove an isolated incident in an opening period dominated by Spurs.

With powerful Egyptian striker Mido back in the side after a three-match suspension, Defoe had been preferred to Robbie Keane as his striking partner, a decision vindicated by the understanding between the pair as much as the early goal.

Just before the half-hour mark, a neat exchange of passes between the forward pair created an opening for Mido, but his shot from 12 yards was fired straight at Warner, who palmed the ball over the bar.

Warner had more work to do eight minutes before the break, to keep out a crisp half-volley from Edgar Davids after a run from young winger Aaron Lennon had unsettled the Fulham defense.

The visitors might have got back on level terms eight minutes after the restart, when King misjudged Niclas Jensen's ball into the box, allowing Thomasz Radzinski to creep in behind him.

The Canadian striker appeared surprised by the opportunity King had presented to him and was only able to prod his shot straight at England goalkeeper Paul Robinson.

There was more evidence of 18-year-old Lennon's promise two minutes later when he cut in from the right wing at real pace, effortlessly going past Niclas Jensen before testing Warner with a low shot that was destined for the bottom corner. Lennon departed with 20 minutes left to a warm reception and deservedly picked up the man of the match award after Spurs had comfortably seen out the closing stages of the match.
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