Ryan Sessegnon comes back to haunt Spurs as Fulham earn victory

Substitutes Rodrigo Muniz and Ryan Sessegnon struck late to give Fulham a 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday as the Cottagers cut the gap on their rivals for European football next season.

Fulham were far superior in the first half but failed to capitalise as Timothy Castagne wasted their clearest opening when he scuffed a tame effort straight at Guglielmo Vicario.

Spurs, with seven changes from Thursday's 3-1 win over AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League, absorbed the pressure and defended well though they offered little going forward.

But Ange Postecoglou's double substitution at halftime, bringing on Son Heung-Min and Lucas Bergvall, had the visitors much improved after the break.

Dominic Solanke twice headed wide before he spurned Spurs' best chance, slicing over from close range after substitute James Maddison chested a parried shot into his path.

"We started really positively, had a couple of really good chances to get in front and we were definitely much better in control," Postecoglou told reporters.

Those Spurs opportunities seemed to revive Fulham and, shortly after Willian shot just wide, Muniz produced a superb first-time finish 12 minutes from time.

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Spurs' Wilson Odobert was dispossessed almost immediately after coming on and Antonee Robinson's cross bounced around the penalty box before Muniz swept home his fifth league goal from the bench this season.

Shortly afterwards, Bergvall's shouts for a penalty after a challenge by Calvin Bassey were waved away. Postecoglou said: "I'll leave that to the officiating. I will say, though, that we don't carry on like a lot of other clubs and I think that hurts us for sure."

Fulham academy product Sessegnon, who moved to Spurs in 2019 before returning last July, then scored the second goal of his second spell at Fulham to secure the victory in the 88th minute.

Sessegnon outmuscled Ben Davies and curled an unstoppable shot into the top corner with his weaker right foot, prompting gleeful chants of "he's one of our own."

Fulham's win puts them eighth, with 45 points from 29 games -- three points behind Manchester City in fifth, which could be good enough to qualify for next season's Champions League.

"It puts us right up there for the European spots and it's nice to get a goal as well," Sessegnon told the BBC. He added: "As a team we have one eye [on Europe] and we're taking it game by game, we just need to keep going."

Spurs' 15th league defeat of the season leaves them 13th, with 34 points from 29 games, and their prospects of European football next term depend entirely on winning the Europa League.

But Postecoglou told reporters: "I said to the players, I'm not going to let anyone just think about Europa and nothing else.

"We can't let this league season go the way it has. We've lost way too many games, unacceptable."