Tottenham Hotspur travelled to Craven Cottage earlier this afternoon to take on Fulham in our latest Premier League clash.
It was all eyes to the team sheets really with the loss of Harry Kane to injury as plenty wondered if manager Mauricio Pochettino would lead with Fernando Llorente and then maybe have Kazaiah Sterling, or another young talent, promoted to the bench as an option.
On Friday it was being reported he had been pulled from the Under 23 squad and called to train with the first team, and the 20-year-old did take his place on the bench.
Had the game gone better for us we may have even seen him, but with Fernando Llorente putting through his own net in the first half and Fulham almost taking a two goal advantage but seeing it scrubbed off for offside, manager Mauricio Pochettino chose against that.
📱 A message from the match-winner.#COYS pic.twitter.com/5JsTU4MBzF
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) January 20, 2019
A better second half saw goals from Dele Alli and a stoppage-time winner from Harry Winks to secure all three points, but it wasn’t pretty.
A significant concern was also the late substitution of Alli who appears to have picked up a hamstring issue.
Speaking to the BBC following the game, Poch said of the match.
“It was an unbelievable finish. That’s why it is so important to believe. The action is brilliant from Harry Winks, to recover the ball from a difficult position, he believes to score and arrive in the box. It was an amazing cross from Nkoudou. Sometimes in football, it is not tactics or formation, you have to believe. Some injuries appear in a period with a more busy schedule and another opportunity opens the door for players not consistently in the starting XI or on the bench. It is great opportunity for different players to show quality.”
As for Alli, Pochettino confirmed.
“It is in the left hamstring, I hope it is not a massive problem, but we will need to assess.”