Another weekend, another London derby defeat for Tottenham Hotspur. And though this was not against arch-rivals Arsenal, failing at Fulham is just as damaging.
After last week’s 4-1 loss, fans will have wanted to see a reaction, and there were first-half protests and chants against the board.
There will have been anger, too, that Harry Wilson’s early opener was allowed to stand after a similar incident in the north London derby last Sunday. There could be no complaints over the second Fulham goal, though, as Alex Iwobi fired home with brilliant technique from outside the area.
Richarlison pulled one back for Spurs in the second half, and Pape Matar Sarr went close at the end, but it was not enough.
The result leaves Spurs exactly where they started the weekend: in 16th position in the Premier League, four points above the bottom three.
Elias Burke discusses the fallout from the game in west London.
Where do Spurs and Tudor go from here?
Sometimes, a fresh infusion of energy and tactical direction can be enough to turn a season around — but that certainly has not been the case so far under Tudor.
While last week’s defeat to Arsenal was a disappointment, Tudor will not be judged by his ability to beat Europe’s best sides. And while Craven Cottage has been a difficult place for Tottenham to come in recent seasons, the clock is ticking down on Spurs’ season, and they needed to remain competitive against mid-table opposition.
Truthfully, however, Tottenham were comfortably second best for much of the afternoon, and were fortunate to be only two goals down by the time Richarlison headed in for 2-1 shortly after the hour mark.
Igor Tudor failed to inspire his side against Fulham (Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)
Tottenham’s terrible home form has been a large part of why they find themselves in a relegation battle, but Tudor has surely circled the visit of Crystal Palace on Thursday as an opportunity to record their first league win of 2026.
Fortunately, owing to defeats for West Ham United and Nottingham Forest, Tottenham’s 13th league defeat of the season did not draw them any closer to the drop zone, but they cannot afford to continue banking on results around them.
Richarlison’s cameo will offer some encouragement to the coach, with the Brazilian netting his first goal since returning from a hamstring injury sustained in January. The fact that it came from an overlapping run from Archie Gray, playing as a left wing-back due to injuries to Djed Spence and Destiny Udogie, suggests Tudor’s system can create goalscoring opportunities in the Premier League — even though Fulham regularly sliced through the man-to-man pressing system.
But the bottom line hasn’t changed: Tottenham need wins.
How did fans react?
It took just seven minutes for Tottenham to concede, after which sections of the supporters quickly directed their attention to the board.
Club chief executive Vinai Venkatesham sat next to Vivienne Lewis, part of the Lewis family, inside the directors’ box at Craven Cottage, and surely heard the Spurs faithful vent their frustrations. Their chants only increased in frequency and vitriol when Iwobi casually side-footed Fulham into a two-goal lead inside the first 45 minutes.
But while angry chants directed towards the board are nothing new for Spurs fans, the players did not escape the blame, with “you’re not fit to wear the shirt” sung on one occasion in the first half.
The atmosphere improved after Richarlison’s goal, with Spurs fans willing an equaliser, but their efforts were ultimately in vain as they slumped to another poor performance and defeat.
However, despite the result, Spurs fans did applaud the players at full time.
Should Wilson’s goal have been disallowed?
Tottenham are in a seemingly endless battle with VAR and Premier League officiating, and fans may have genuine cause for frustration with the decision to award Harry Wilson’s opening goal.
Moments before the Wales international converted Oscar Bobb’s cross on the volley from close range, Raul Jimenez contested a header with Radu Dragusin inside the Spurs box. With Dragusin having already left the ground, Jimenez nudged him forward with both hands, throwing the Romania international defender off balance.
Moments later, Wilson was celebrating his goal while Dragusin immediately appealed to the referee, signalling a push.
The VAR checked the incident, but unlike last week’s incident involving Randal Kolo Muani and Gabriel in the defeat to Arsenal, referee Thomas Bramall did not rule the goal out in the moment, so the criteria is lifted to a clear and obvious mistake. And while replays clearly demonstrated that Dragusin had been pushed in the build-up, VAR Craig Pawson did not deem the incident as worthy of overturning the on-field decision.
Naturally, however, Spurs fans and Tudor — who was incensed on the sidelines — will feel frustrated that another important call has gone against them in the Premier League.
What did Tudor say?
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Tudor said: “It’s complicated, the situation. Lots of problems. I cannot tell you anything new.
“We need to find forces inside each of us. I said to the players, ‘It’s always what you want to do with yourself’. More personality. More wish to do.
“We lack when we attack. We lack quality to score. We lack in the middle to run. We lack behind to stay and suffer and not concede.”
Discussing the Wilson goal, Tudor said: “Sometimes they don’t understand enough that even small contact gives you an advantage to score the goal. You need to cancel this. It’s not about normal duel when it’s soft or not, when it’s a push, with hands.
“It’s just easy to get an advantage. It’s ridiculous to not give the foul because the consequence is too big. It’s not a small foul in the middle of the pitch, it’s a goal. There is logic in that.
“With the referees, it’s a beautiful thing to play here — let’s play strong, duels. Fantastic. I like it. But there is logic. The goal is because he (Jimenez) takes advantage, not thinking about football. He was not thinking about the ball. He was thinking how to cheat. So he cheated, the player pushing, and they scored the goal. It’s logic. It’s cheating and a foul.”
What next for Tottenham?
Thursday, March 5: Crystal Palace (Home), Premier League, 8pm UK, 3pm ET