For the second game in a row, Fulham came out the wrong end of a hard-fought 1-0 scoreline.
The Whites dominated the first 45 but a rare spell of Tottenham Hotspur pressure at the end of the half saw Harry Kane rifle in a record-equalling goal for the striker.
The second period was a more even encounter, but Spurs managed the game well enough to keep Fulham at bay.
Marco Silva made a solitary change to the side that was beaten at the death by Newcastle United, with Antonee Robinson returning from suspension at left-back in place of Layvin Kurzawa.
After a quarter hour delay to kick-off due to problems on the underground, Fulham began the night in a confident move, but had to wait until the 10th minute to test Hugo Lloris – the recently retired France goalkeeper getting down swiftly to Bobby De Cordova-Reid’s zippy 20 yarder.
He had to be alert again two minutes later to keep out Andreas Pereira’s long range free-kick, but did not have to move this time as it was straight down his throat.
Spurs retaliated at a corner, but Ben Davies could only divert Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s volley way over the bar.
The best chance came Harrison Reed’s way before 19 minutes had passed. De Cordova-Reid scampered down the right before cutting back to Andreas. His first time cross was directed on target by Reed and had Lloris worried, but the goalkeeper managed to claim the ball at the second attempt before Reed could pop in his own rebound.
Heung-Min Son went into the book for a foul on Kenny Tete as we approached the half hour mark, and the South Korean will have been relieved when the VAR check was completed, having caught the Fulham man high on his ankle.
A first sighter for Kane followed, but Bernd Leno seemed confident that his swirling strike was always heading off target.
An assist from the corner flag then almost presented Tottenham with the opener as the ball fortuitously stayed in play down their right. Leno, though, was equal to Emerson Royal’s near post effort.
A trademark João Palhinha tackle won possession in the middle of the park to spark Fulham’s latest opener. It ended with Lloris beating away Willian’s fierce shot.
Our determination to end the half in front was clear, and Palhinha will be disappointed to have headed Andreas’ pinpoint free-kick into the Putney End.
But as it transpired, Spurs enjoyed their best spell of the game right at the end of the first 45, and made it count with a fine Kane strike. The England captain spun Tim Ream on the edge of the box before arrowing a perfect shot into the bottom corner.
That goal meant Kane had equalled Jimmy Greaves’ Spurs record of 266, and he must have thought he’d surpassed it in the second half when he connected with Davies’ nod across goal, but Leno showed incredible reflexes to parry his close range header over the bar.
At the other end, Aleksandar Mitrović was alive to Andreas’ quick free-kick and got to the ball at the byline before hooking it across the face. Unfortunately, neither Palhinha nor De Cordova-Reid could tap it in.
Tom Cairney had been introduced to try and reassert the Whites’ control on proceedings, and his first time cross with 15 minutes remaining was inviting for Mitrović. He beat his man and nodded back across goal, but it marginally cleared the bar.
Manor Solomon was another attacking change made by Silva, and he almost had an immediate impact when he cut in from the left and bent one inside the far post. Lloris, at full stretch, was able to tip it wide.
Fulham continued to push but our guests were managing the game well, resulting in another frustrating outing where our efforts went unrewarded.
