Fulham draw ´fair´ for injury-hit Tottenham, says Postecoglou

Ange Postecoglou believes his Tottenham side were worthy of a point, despite being far from their best in their 1-1 draw with Fulham.

Brennan Johnson’s sixth Premier League goal of the season was cancelled out by Tom Cairney’s stunning effort, though the latter saw red late on for a foul on Dejan Kulusevski.

The result saw the hosts miss out on the chance to move within a point of the top four, with their inconsistency this season proving to be their Achilles heel.

Tottenham managed an expected goals (xG) total of 0.65 compared to Fulham’s 1.38, though Postecoglou said that his injury-hit side deserved a point on home soil.

“A point was probably fair. It was a tight game. Neither team opened up too much. It was hard to dominate for either side,” the head coach said.

“It was probably always going to be decided by some half-chances, and we ended up getting the draw.

“For the most part, we handled it OK, we should have taken those to put some pressure on them. We looked like we were getting on top and then they scored.

“They didn’t create loads. We are pretty thin on the ground, so I can’t ask too much more of them at the moment.”

Postecoglou also praised Fraser Forster, who became the oldest player to make a Premier League appearance for Spurs since Brad Friedel in November 2013 on Sunday.

Forster made five saves against Fulham, denying efforts from Alex Iwobi and Raul Jimenez either side of half-time.

“He pulled off a couple of important saves for us, and it is good to have someone in that area who is stepping in,” Postecoglou said of his goalkeeper’s display.

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Marco Silva, however, believed Fulham were the only worthy winners at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Cottagers had several chances to punish Tottenham’s sloppy play in possession, but failed to take their opportunities.

Fulham are now unbeaten in their last eight Premier League London derbies (won four, drawn four), the club’s longest ever such run, with Silva lauding his side’s display.

“I think that everybody should recognise that the team who deserved to win this afternoon was ourselves. We deserved to win. We played our way with our identity on the pitch.

“Myself, the players and the fans should be proud of it. We should have been leading the score with the chances we had. We have to be realistic that Tottenham had chances as well.”

Silva also gave his view on Cairney’s dismissal, with the Fulham captain given his marching orders 16 minutes after scoring the Cottagers’ equaliser.

“Firstly, I know him. Tom Cairney is not the player for that, everybody knows,” he said.

“I have to be realistic and honest with you, everybody knows I am the first one asking him to be more aggressive in the right way, to keep some principles as a midfielder in that situation, but he is not the type of player to do that type of thing.

“He stamped on his leg and, of course, looking for the images, it should be a red card, and we have to accept knowing Tom Cairney was really unlucky because he is not that type of player.”