Premier, Conte’s Tottenham win thanks to Kane

In the sign of Harry Kane. Tottenham snatched a hard-fought 1-0 win at Fulham thanks to the latest wonder of their centre-forward, who reached the legendary Jimmy Greaves with 266 goals for Spurs, becoming their all-time leading scorer. What Kane slips in in the first minute of stoppage time of the first half, with an unstoppable right-footed shot from the edge (also because Leno doesn’t see the ball leave, covered by Pahlinha), is a fundamental goal for Tottenham: Conte’s team is in a moment very delicate both on and off the pitch, and this victory serves both to reduce the disadvantage from United and Newcastle to three points, third in the standings at 39, and to regain confidence. The one that Fulham had, which in case of success would have even overtaken Tottenham to fifth place in the standings.

THE KEYS

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Kane was the best on the pitch, and one of the few on whom Conte (invoked by the fans, who instead invited president Daniel Levy to get out of the way) knows he can always count on. In the freezing weather of Craven Cottage the defense was also fundamental: he had conceded 21 goals in the previous 10 games, keeping only one clean sheet and conceding at least two goals in each of the other 9 games. At Fulham’s home, however, not only did Lloris not concede goals, but he made the best saves of the match. However, Tottenham still need to grow a lot to look at who’s in front of them: the offensive game remains cumbersome and predictable, with Son still far from his usual levels, the defensive one at risk of disaster at the slightest mistake. Conte needs to rediscover certainties and compactness to aim high. Fulham in the first half would have deserved something more than the second consecutive defeat, after having opened the part of the season after the World Cup with 4 wins in a row. Silva’s team found Lloris on their way, and in the second half, with Tottenham tightly closed in defence, they rarely managed to be insidious. It must also be for this reason that the coach continues to maintain that Fulham’s goal is salvation, despite the fact that the standings say otherwise.

THE MATCH

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Fulham played better throughout the first half, at times putting the visitors on the ropes. But it was Tottenham who took the lead in the locker room, thanks to the record goal that Kane scored in the first stoppage time with a splendid right-footed shot from the edge. The Tottenham star came close to doubling the lead in the 57th minute when Leno did a miracle to prevent him from scoring his 200th goal in the Premier League. Spurs slowly close, Fulham try to step up but Conte’s defense concedes nothing. And the coach celebrates with the fans who invoke his name the one he will try to make the victory become the turning point.