Soccer Football - Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - December 1, 2024 Tottenham Hotspur's Pape Matar Sarr in action with Fulham's Tom Cairney Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
LONDON (Reuters) -Fulham captain Tom Cairney came off the bench to rescue a point before being sent off in a 1-1 draw at Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday, after Brennan Johnson's volley gave the hosts the lead.
Fulham were the better side in the first half, though Son Hueng-min spurned a clear chance in the opening minute after Timo Werner intercepted a risky pass out of defence.
Raul Jimenez was twice denied by Spurs goalkeeper Fraser Forster, making his first league appearance this season -- and first since May, 2023 -- in place of the injured Guglielmo Vicario.
Forster stood tall when Jimenez was found in space in the box before he produced a great save at full stretch to keep out the Mexican striker's goalbound header.
Spurs also went close when Radu Dragusin forced Bernd Leno to tip his header over the bar after a well-worked corner and James Maddison almost caught Fulham out with a free kick under the wall, which was deflected narrowly wide.
Fulham were the more threatening side, though, and nearly scored shortly before halftime with a quick counter but Alex Iwobi's shot clipped the bar.
The visitors were sharper after the restart too, but Spurs took the lead in the 54th minute through Johnson's third goal in four games.
Werner's cross to the back post found Johnson in acres of space and he sent a neat finish past Leno to give Spurs a surprising lead.
Spurs manager Ange Postecoglu was left to rue his side's inability to add a second goal.
"We got our nose in front and we just couldn't push on," he told reporters. "Not for the lack of trying, the players gave everything they could."
Cairney drew Fulham level in the 67th minute when his strike from the edge of the box curled beyond Forster's grasp, having been teed up by the impressive Iwobi.
Cairney was sent off seven minutes from time for raking his studs down Dejan Kulusevski's calf, with referee Darren Bond upgrading his initial yellow card to a red after being sent to the pitchside monitor by VAR.
Fulham manager Marco Silva insisted Cairney is "not a malicious player at all", but had few complaints about the decision.
"Looking at the images, we have to accept it," he told reporters. "He (Cairney) was unlucky.
"I think we deserved much more from the game, deserved clearly to win the game, (with) the chances we created against a very good side."
Fulham withstood late pressure to earn a deserved draw, which put them 10th in the table with 19 points from 13 games.
Spurs, with only their second league draw this season, moved up to seventh with 20 points, three behind fourth-placed Brighton & Hove Albion.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin, editing by Ed Osmond)
