Tottenham 1 Fulham 1: Spurs blow lead to miss chance of closing gap on top four as Cairney sent off for horror challenge
TOM CAIRNEY had a taste of the highs and lows experienced by Spurs fans most weeks after he scored and then was sent off in a crazy, 21-minute sub cameo.
The Fulham club captain, 33, had been introduced on 62 minutes after Brennan Johnson’s ice-cool finish put under-par Tottenham ahead.
Things seemed to be going so well for Cairney when he curled home a splendid leveller soon after coming on.
But his short shift was over on 83 minutes when ref Darren Bond upgraded his yellow to a red after consulting his pitch-side telly to consider Cairney’s foul on Dejan Kulusevski.
Spurs could not capitalise on the extra man as they limply followed up last week’s euphoric 4-0 win at the Etihad, which had been preceded by a dismal 2-1 home defeat to Ipswich.
It was little surprise to hear frustrated home fans give a few boos at full-time as their wildly inconsistent campaign continued.
Boss Ange Postecoglou was dealt a blow ahead of kick-off when £65million striker Dominic Solanke was ruled out through illness.
The England man actually reported for duty at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium hours before kick-off, but was deemed too poorly for action and was sent home.
Spurs underwhelmed but they should have taken the lead inside 49 seconds.
Timo Werner, starting in Solanke’s absence with Son Heung-min shifted to centre-forward, nicked the ball and laid in the South Korean who struck straight at Bernd Leno.
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Postecoglou’s Russian roulette football approach means Tottenham games are a joy to watch for the neutral.
But they can be nail-biting, exhausting affairs for fans whose excitement over every chance their team creates are matched by the anxiety felt at the opportunities they give up.
This game fit neatly into that description with Fulham looking so dangerous on the counter.
Twice Ben Davies, sporting a black eye picked up against Roma on Thursday, had to make last-gasp interventions, first to deny Raul Jimenez and then Sander Berge.
While Fraser Forster once again impressed with his shot-stopping ability in the absence of injured No1 Guglielmo Vicario.
The England international made two fine stops to deny Jimenez, the second of which saw him produce a powerful right-hand to deny the Mexican’s well-struck volley.
Alex Iwobi, one of FOUR ex-Arsenal players in Marco Silva’s starting line-up, then went a whisker away from an opener as he blasted onto the crossbar.
Spurs themselves hit the woodwork before the break when James Maddison’s sneaky free-kick under the wall was deflected onto the post.
The hosts started the second period in equally lacklustre fashion and Forster had to be at his best to deny Issa Diop and then Iwobi.
Spurs were loose in possession too with lax passes from Maddison and Radu Dragusin.
But they went unpunished and on 55 minutes, Spurs went ahead through Johnson.
The Welshman crashed home a clever loop of a cross from Werner from close-range.
It took his tally to four goals in as many games for club and country – as well as ten in 20 for Spurs this term.
Postecoglou may have felt aggrieved at that point that Fulham were not reduced to ten men after Sasa Lukic escaped a second yellow card minutes after his first one.
Having rightly been cautioned for fouling Yves Bissouma, the Serb took out Son with a strong challenge but ref Bond played advantage and did not take any action later.
Sensing his side had got away with one, Marco Silva sensibly withdrew Lukic on 62 minutes and sent Cairney on in his place.
Seven minutes later, the sub made his mark with a thumping finish into the far corner from Iwobi’s cutback that had Forster grasping at thin air.
Cairney celebrated like a man who had not netted for some time – understandably given his last goal came 361 days ago.
Postecoglou’s lengthy absentee list meant he had mainly kids on the bench – with 16-year-old midfielder Luca Williams-Barnett literally at school this week.
But one man the Aussie did have was star-of-the-season Kulusevski, benched to manage his workload, and he was sent on before the restart.
And it was for a foul on Kulusevski that saw Cairney’s explosive cameo come to an end.
The ex-Scotland international was initially booked for catching the Swede on the back of the leg down to his Achilles.
But while there did not appear to be any malice in the challenge, it was a nasty one, and that yellow turned to red after VAR recommended Bond check his monitor.
Yet Spurs could not capitalise, and now have just one win in their last five games – albeit that victory did read Manchester City 0 Tottenham 4.