Guglielmo Vicario was booed by his own supporters as his howler in a shambolic opening half against Fulham saw Spurs concede twice in the first six minutes with a second-half revival not enough to avoid a 2-1 defeat – which could have been much worse.
Already trailing from Kenny Tete’s third-minute deflected opener, a moment of madness from the Italian goalkeeper less than three minutes later gifted possession to Harry Wilson after running some 25 yards off his line, who punished his poor clearance with a stunning strike into the unguarded net.
It was the earliest Spurs had conceded two goals in the history of the Premier League and enough for Spurs fans, who have seen their side win just three of their last 21 home league games, to turn on Vicario and his colleagues, booing several of his touches across the remainder of the half.
Captain Micky van de Ven anticipated the reaction of an infuriated home crowd at the interval and called his team-mates across to walk off together and face their reaction as one.
By that point Fulham would have been out of sight were it not for the actions of the home skipper, whose vital slide on Samuel Chukwueze from a seemingly impossible position denied the Cottagers a crucial third after Vicario had been rounded.
Thomas Frank had clearly changed tack following the insipid defeat at Arsenal last weekend and named an attacking line-up featuring Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall, only to see his side cut apart at will by every first-half Fulham attack. It felt a case of simply how many the visitors would win by.
That would have been bad enough without Spurs’ attacking display proving limper than ever, with an xG of just 0.07 racked up by the break and not a single shot on target.
That made Frank’s decision to stick with his starting XI all the more surprising, but that same line-up looked a different side from the restart, though still found clear-cut opportunities hard to come by.
Even their lifeline 14 minutes into the second half required a rocket of a strike from Mohammed Kudus to beat Bernd Leno at his near post, before their momentum slowly ebbed away and it reverted to a familiar story – a lack of creativity on home soil, and yet another poor result to add to the collection. This time, it may also begin to raise the heat on Frank himself.
Spurs’ palatial surroundings become an unhappy home
- Tottenham suffered their 10th home defeat of 2025 in the Premier League, with this now their joint-most home league defeats in a single calendar year in club history (also 10 in 1994 and 2003).
- Spurs have picked up just 14 points on home soil across the last 12 months, the lowest of any ever-present Premier League team and six behind the second-lowest total, West Ham.
- Tottenham have faced 37 more shots and 27 more shots on target than they have attempted during that time.
- Fulham’s 2-0 lead as of the sixth minute marked the earliest that Tottenham have ever conceded two goals in a Premier League home match.
- Tottenham have lost four consecutive home London derbies for the first time in the Premier League (v Chelsea x2, Crystal Palace and Fulham).
