Fulham 1 Tottenham Hotspur 2: match report

It had nothing to do with Danny Murphy and his infamous comments on reckless tackling, but there was more controversy at Craven Cottage as Tottenham Hotspur maintained their impressive start to the season.Fulham's captain Murphy had a quiet game before being substituted in the 53rd minute, but it was Tom Huddlestone's winning goal for Spurs 10 minutes later that brought clamour and confusion.Davies hopeful of seeing off SpursHuddlestone fired a low shot through a crowded penalty area and past Mark Schwarzer following a short corner, but referee Mike Dean only awarded the goal after a long consultation with his assistant Martin Yerby, who flagged for offside against William Gallas, the Spurs defender who was in front of the Fulham goalkeeper.Uncertainty ensued for a minute or so, until Dean awarded the goal. Fulham manager Mark Hughes was barely able to suppress his anger and frustration afterwards.'The goal should have been wiped out because Gallas was in an offside position when the ball was struck. The only grey area was whether the ball hit one of my players on the way through, the argument being that maybe he has played him onside.'By all accounts Mike Dean went over to his assistant to ask whether Gallas touched the ball, and the assistant obviously said no, but how he can make that decision from where he was is open to debate.'Hughes confronted the referee at the final whistle, asking for an explanation and said of the referee: 'He told me to see him afterwards, but what is the point. The game has gone.'The defeat ended Fulham's unbeaten start in the Premier League this season and although that decision was harsh on them, Spurs were worthy winners. Once again they came from behind to win and Harry Redknapp was pleased at the way his players stuck to their task ahead of Wednesday's trip to Inter Milan.'That is the third time this season we've come from behind, but we scored [the equaliser] at the right time, straight after they had gone ahead.'Fulham scored first. Simon Davies lofted a ball forward, Clint Dempsey controlled it on his chest and fired across goal, where Diomansy Kamara was waiting to drill home at the far post. But that marvellous move was eclipsed within a minute by Tottenham.Gareth Bale fed Rafael van der Vaart and in one swift movement the Dutchman killed the ball with his back to goal, spun and chipped it over Schwarzer and on to the crossbar. Roman Pavlyuchenko was first to react and rammed the ball in from close range.But the game completely changed with Huddlestone's controversial goal in the second half. TV replays showed the ball took a deflection off Fulham defender Chris Baird on its way in, which possibly vindicated Dean's decision. But even Redknapp admitted his confusion.'Tom drilled it in and I thought it was a great goal, but when I saw the flag go up I thought no goal,' said Redknapp. 'The TV people said afterwards the ball went in off Baird, so maybe that's why it was given when William was a yard offside. But I'd be a liar if I said I was an expert on the offside rule.'The only disappointment for Redknapp was the loss of captain Ledley King before half-time with a groin injury that may keep him out for several weeks. But he added: 'Gallas did well, considering he was injured until this week and couldn't train. He will have to play against Inter because we have no one else in that position.'

Source: Telegraph