Simon Davies scored one of the most memorable goals of his young life last night to earn Tottenham an unlikely place in the quarter-finals of the League Cup, where they will play Bolton Wanderers at White Hart Lane.
It was one of Spurs' most unconvincing displays of the season. But, with the rigours of extra-time just four minutes away, Davies latched on to Ledley King's nod-down and rifled home a shot which punished Fulham for not converting dominance into goals.
Both teams fielded under-strength sides, though in Spurs' case the changes were more about injury than insult to the prize on offer. Gustavo Poyet, Les Ferdinand and Mauricio Taricco are all sidelined while Dean Richards was cup-tied. It meant opportunities for Goran Bunjevcevic and Sergei Rebrov, the Ukrainian grabbing his chance after 16 minutes.
Tottenham's first real attack saw Oyvind Leonhardsen find Teddy Sheringham just outside the Fulham area with his back to goal. The England striker spotted Rebrov moving past and found him with an astute header. The Ukrainian did the rest, finishing with a half-volley from 18 yards.
Despite this competition being a handy route into Europe, Jean Tigana rested six regulars. As half-time approached he might have been questioning the wisdom of such a move, but in the dying seconds Fulham's pressure finally paid off. Steve Finnan swung in a cross from the right and Barry Hayles nipped in to score with a diving header.
There was a stupid moment in the first half when Spurs fans pelted Luis Boa Morte with various objects as he tried to take a corner. The referee stopped play and a line of stewards was sent to patrol in front of the offenders.
Thankfully the football was on a more intelligent level as Fulham began the second half aiming to build on their equaliser.
On 52 minutes a promising incursion into the Spurs area ended disappointingly with Lee Clark scuffing an inviting shot straight at Neil Sullivan. Then Sullivan did well to steal the ball from the end of the on-rushing Boa Morte's toe.
FULHAM: Taylor; Finnan, Quaddou, Goma, Harley; Goldbaek, Clark, Davis, Collins; Boa Morte, Hayles.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR: Sullivan; Perry, Bunjevcevic, King; Davies, Anderton, Freund, Leonhardsen, Ziege; Sheringham, Rebrov.
Referee: M Halsey.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)