Fulham triumph in forgettable London derby

Fulham 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur

Fulham v Spurs is always an appealing fixture. With two managers dedicated to positive football (and the restitution of Willian to last Sunday's starting line-up) we were entitled to expect something special. It took nearly 90 minutes to arrive.

There was no early goal this time. After a brief spell of frantic football, in which Andreas Pereira and Willian both wasted chances, the match stalled. Fulham played cautiously and an under strength Tottenham side showed little motivation apart perhaps from a desire to rough up Raul Jimenez.

It took more than twenty minutes for the visitors to manifest a touch of class, Mathys Tel ghosting through the Fulham defence and delivering a centre that should have been converted.

Home supporters bayed for a penalty when Djed Spence pushed Jimenez in the back. From the Hammersmith end it looked a good call but TV revealed a forward roll almost as athletic as the Mexican's recent goal celebration.

Referee Andy Madley underwent the usual abuse but his lenient approach benefitted both teams. The match would have been even duller if it had been punctuated by more frequent free kicks.

Calvin Bassey was cheered to the echo when he sent Cristiano Romero flying; the defender will need to be more disciplined in the FA quarter-final. Alex Iwobi's cross did strike Rodrigo Betancur's hand but once again the referee ignored all appeals.

BBC Match of the Day could only retrieve two incidents from the first half, Jimenez's dive and Guglielmo Vicario's save from Timothy Castagne – a tame effort that did at least give one goalkeeper something to do.

The interval provided more substance than much of the preceding football. Youssef Khoumari, the new IBF English lightweight champion spoke of his future plans and his long attachment to Fulham FC. And we heard more about the club's excellent work in promoting football opportunities for underrepresented groups in society.

For the second half the Spurs manager introduced Son Heung-min and the improvement came immediately. The visitors mounted two attacks, both competently defended. In return Willian was on target but the ball was deflected for a corner. Emile Smith Rowe's follow up proved high and wide.

Tottenham resumed their assault. Lucas Bergvall's marvellous cross was headed just wide by Dominic Solanke, who then nearly scored when Bernd Leno palmed out a threatening drive from Mathys Tel.

The entry into the fray of Rodrigo Muniz and Adama Traore for Fulham and James Maddison for Spurs stoked up the temperature and Bassey caused a minor scuffle with his pointless foul on Tel. What did he have for breakfast?

With a quarter of an hour remaining Vicario deflected Pereira's centre straight to Willian, who just missed the bottom corner of the net.

Then Muniz headed a long clearance from Leno out to Traore. Spurs seemed to have thwarted the move but Willian and Antonee Robinson won the ball back. A few passes later Muniz sent the ball beyond Vicario's right hand to give Fulham a well-timed lead.

Very late in the game and to loud applause Marco Silva sent on Ryan Sessegnon. The former Spur clearly meant business and when Leno made another effective clearance Sessegnon beat Ben Davies to the ball and his right foot superbly curled it past the Spurs keeper.

Joy was unconfined on and off the pitch. The exuberant Muniz somehow leapfrogged over his fellow scorer and created one of the greatest photographs in the club's history.

In added time Sessegnon gave further evidence of his increased muscularity. The visitors nearly got a consolation when Bassey tripped Bergvall. Apparently it was deemed a 'coming together' though I could not see much difference between that and the minor collision that led to Harrison Reed being penalised at Brighton. Anyway Spurs were well beaten.

It was optimistic for me in last week's blog to suggest that three-hour queues for Fulham tickets belonged to the past. From conversations with fans I gather that some of them endured a similar experience when they tried to reserve their seats for the quarter final because the club's website was down or (as I found it) baffling. Since we all hope to see Fulham at Wembley the process will have to be much more efficient.