A nod is as good as a Winks
SAME old story, just a different Harry. With the whole of Tottenham fretting that they really were missing Mr Kane, Mr Winks decided to make a name for himself.
It is a moment that could change a season.
With Kane sorely missed alongside Son Heung-Min and Moussa Sissoko, Dele Alli had then been left curled by the advertising hoardings ominously clutching the back of his thigh.
When he did eventually hobble to the Spurs dugout, he merely sat there with his hands over his eyes – the Spurs staff not even bothering to treat him.
Oh, and all the while Tottenham were struggling to beat the team seven points adrift from safety, one off the bottom of the table.
It perhaps explains the huge outburst of joy when Winks, who had started a last-gasp move by taking the ball on his chest on the halfway line, stole in at the far post to head in Georges -Kevin Nkoudou’s curling cross to steal three points and keep the chasing pack at bay as they hunt down the Champions League places.
Because on this showing, this is not a title race for Mauricio Pochettino’s side this season but a fight to stay among Europe’s elite when they finally get into their new stadium.
It was not just the goals that were taken away by Kane’s ankle injury. After all, it took Fernando Llorente just 17 minutes to show he knows where the back of the net is. Unfortunately for him, though, it was the wrong one.
Fulham had served warning that they were up for this six minutes earlier. A mistake by Davinson Sanchez allowed Ryan Babel through on goal, playing in his first Premier League game since he featured for Liverpool in December 2010.
Old habits die hard and he hit this shot as well as ever with that left foot of his. Only Hugo Lloris guessed he was going near post and stretched out a hand to push the ball away.
There was nothing he could do to stop Llorente’s effort, however – Jean Michael Seri’s corner hit him square in the shin and spun in at the near post.
However, when the Spain international fired in a flick header from Jan Vertonghen’s deep ball in a bid to make amends, it was easily saved. Fulham could have doubled their lead just before the break. Calum Chambers, impressing as a holding midfielder, played in Babel and his deep cross was thumped goalwards by Andre Schurrle. Lloris made another great save and even though Aleksandar Mitrovic nodded in the rebound, the assistant rightly spotted he was narrowly offside.
Instead it was only six minutes into the second half when Spurs drew level.
Tim Ream missed his clearance, Christian Eriksen clipped the ball in and Alli stole between Cyrus Christie and Denis Odoi to nod home.
It was more Kane’s linkup play that Llorente could not replicate. It meant that Spurs’ back three and the two wing-backs had to push forward more than they would have liked to try to force a goal by numbers rather than individual skill.
As a result, Fulham always threatened on the break but Lloris kept his side in it. He just managed to get his
fingertips to the ball before bundling into Mitrovic charging through to deny a goal and avoid a penalty.
At the other end Danny Rose cut inside to try a right-foot shot but a deflection off Odoi diverted his thunderbolt onto the bar on the hour.
Then, in the 82nd minute, it was Llorente’s chance to make amends. Rose pretty much planted his free-kick onto the striker’s forehead, but his angled effort bounced harmlessly wide of the far post.
Alli limped away soon after and Spurs were sinking, so Winks’ late intervention could not have been a more timely pick-me-up.
As for Fulham? Not surprisingly, it is hard to see where they go from here after battling so valiantly only to have nothing to show for it.
Actually, on second thoughts, it is not hard at all. They are heading straight back down to the Championship.
FULHAM (3-4-3): Rico 6; Odoi 7, Le Marchand 7, Ream 5; Christie 6, Chambers 7, Seri 6 (Cisse 80), Bryan 7; Schurrle 6 (Kebano 72, 5), Mitrovic 5, Babel 7 (R Sessegnon 55, 7). Booked: Mitrovic, Seri. Goal: Llorente og 17. NEXT UP: Brighton (h), Jan 29 PL.
TOTTENHAM (3-4-3): Lloris 8; Alderweireld 6, Sanchez 7, Vertonghen 7; Trippier 6, Winks 7, Eriksen 6, Rose 6; Alli 7 (Nkoudou 86), Llorente 5, Lamela 5 (Dier 79, 5). Booked: Sanchez, Rose, Alderweireld. Goals: Alli 51, Winks 90. NEXT UP: Chelsea (a), Thurs CC.
Referee: C Pawson (S Yorkshire).