Tottenham suffered their first on-pitch setback of the Ange Postecoglou era after they exited the Carabao Cup in the second round at Fulham after Davinson Sanchez crucially had an effort saved in a 5-3 defeat on penalties.
Richarlison had opened his account for the season to cancel out a 19th-minute own-goal from Micky van de Ven, which had given the hosts a deserved half-time advantage despite being without boss Marco Silva, who was serving a touchline ban.
No further goals were forthcoming and the 1-1 scoreline at 90 minutes meant spot-kicks were required and after five successful penalties a low effort from Sanchez which was saved by Marek Rodak proved the difference.
Kenny Tete fired Fulham’s fifth penalty past Fraser Forster to book their place in the third round and leave Tottenham with only one realistic option of trying to end their trophy drought, which stretches back to 2008.
Both of these Premier League teams had exited this competition at the first opportunity last season, but 15 changes were made overall with Spurs making nine after entering at the second round stage for the first time since 2009.
Fulham went with largely their first-choice back four and left-back Antonee Robinson created the opening opportunity when he burst past Sanchez and crossed to the back post, but Rodrigo Muniz headed wide.
It was a sign of things to come from Sanchez, who had been expected to leave this summer but instead has moved up the defensive pecking order ahead of Eric Dier under Postecoglou.
Sanchez continued to be troubled and was at fault for the opener in the 19th minute.
Tom Cairney turned Sanchez inside out on the edge of the penalty area and his floated cross was deflected beyond Forster by Spurs’ centre-back Van de Ven.
Postecoglou had brought a feelgood factor back to Tottenham after a difficult first half of 2023, but the away fans at Craven Cottage turned their frustration to chairman Daniel Levy with chants calling for him to leave the club.
Forster had to be alert soon after to deny Muniz’s snapshot before Spurs did finally threaten but Richarlison’s effort was blocked by Tim Ream and Ivan Perisic had a free-kick deflected wide.
The lively Muniz went close again on the stroke of half-time with a header from Adama Traore’s cross, but Forster saved well to keep it 1-0.
Spurs boss Postecoglou had still seen enough and teenage forward Dane Scarlett was introduced for Giovani Lo Celso.
It had an immediate impact with Richarlison forcing Marek Rodak to tip over his deflected shot before Scarlett’s presence created a chance for Manchester United-linked Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who side-footed wide from 10 yards.
The leveller did arrive with 56 minutes played and it was a moment to savour for Richarlison, who stooped low at the back post to head in Perisic’s cross for only his fourth goal for Tottenham since a £60million move last summer.
Fulham were unhappy that Perisic was able to make the most of the hosts’ absent right-back Tete, who had to leave the pitch to get a new boot after a fine tackle on Scarlett moments earlier.
The hosts improved after conceding with Bobby Decordova-Reid slicing wide from inside the area and substitute Harry Wilson had an effort blocked by Sanchez.
Dejan Kulusevski and Son Heung-min were on by this point and Manor Solomon nearly won it for Spurs with a curled effort but Rodak saved, before Forster denied Wilson with his legs to ensure penalties were required.
Fulham were picture perfect from 12 yards with Andreas Pereira, Raul Jimenez, Wilson, Joao Palhinha and Tete all able to score while Sanchez’s tame effort ensured Tottenham exited in the second round for the first time since 2005.
Busby aiming to reset culture, objectives ahead of World Cup Qualifying campaign
A reset of the culture as well as objectives of the Jamaica Senior Women’s National Team or “Reggae Girlz” is of paramount importance to returning Head coach Hubert Busby Jr.
Busby Jr was rehired last week after previously serving in the role in 2021 and won’t have a lot of time to settle back into the role as his first assignment will be to navigate a pair of international friendlies with global football powerhouses Brazil on June 1 and 4.
The two teams last met at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup where a 0-0 draw secured the Reggae Girlz spot as the first Caribbean nation to ever advance from the group stage at a World Cup.
The squad for these two friendlies can be looked at as a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, 18 of the members of the squad were in that history-making World Cup squad but, on the other hand, they haven’t played together since that tournament which was nine months ago.
“I think coming back in with two weeks to go, there is a lot of work to do in a short period of time and the idea that the core of this particular group hasn’t been together in nine months so there’s a lot of work that we’re doing now behind the scenes to get up to speed in terms of watching Brazil and getting the players organized,” he said in an interview with JFFLive on Wednesday.
Busby Jr then went into detail on two of his major objectives in his second stint as Head coach of the Reggae Girlz.
“More importantly, I think, some of the objectives for us is to reset the culture, reset the objectives in terms of what we’re looking to do and understand, I know it’s the most used cliché in sports, but whatever we do, we really have to stick to a process of how we look to get back to the next World Cup in 2027,” explained Busby Jr.
“This is just the first part in utilizing each and every window, making sure that, regardless of the results, we are hitting our targets of what we want to accomplish heading into the World Cup Qualifiers,” he added.
Brazil will be using these friendlies as preparation for the Olympic Games where they won consecutive silver medals at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.
These two friendlies will also be the last home international appearances for perhaps the greatest female footballer ever, Marta, who has announced that she will retire after the Paris Games.
“This is going to be a little bit of a send-off match for them. It will also be Marta’s last game in Brazil in front of her home crowd before she retires and there’s a little bit of a revenge factor from what happened at the World Cup so we’ve got to manage all of that,” Busby Jr said.
“We’re going to have these three training sessions and prepare the team for these matches,” he ended.
Ederson to miss Man City's final two games of season
Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson will miss the final two games of the season due to a fractured eye socket.
The Citizens face West Ham on Sunday as they aim to win a fourth consecutive Premier League title, before taking on rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final on May 25.
The goalkeeper was involved in a heavy collision with Cristian Romero in their 2-0 win over Tottenham on Tuesday, with the goalkeeper initially allowed to continue after receiving treatment before being replaced by Stefan Ortega.
City revealed Ederson has since undergone scans which revealed a small fracture to the right eye socket, forcing him out of their last two games of the season.
Nagelsmann announces Germany's provisional Euro 2024 squad
Julian Nagelsmann has named a 27-man provisional squad for hosts Germany ahead of Euro 2024.
The biggest surprise in the squad was the inclusion of a fourth goalkeeper, as Stuttgart goalkeeper Alexander Nubel received his first senior call-up.
Mats Hummels is one of the big names left out despite helping Borussia Dortmund on their way to the Champions League final, while Bayern Munich’s Leon Goretzka is also absent once more.
Julian Brandt, Niklas Sule and Karim Adeyemi miss out on a place in the tournament, while Serge Gnabry and Timo Werner are both out through injury.
After winning just one of his first four games in charge, Nagelsmann changed things in March and was rewarded with back-to-back victories.
Nico Schlotterbeck won 71 per cent of his tackles in the Bundesliga - the highest figure in Europe's big-five leagues this season (at least 70 tackles), and is back in the national squad for the first time since September.
Aleksandar Pavlovic missed the March friendlies due to injury but is a welcome recall - Bayern have an 83.3 per cent win ratio with Pavlovic in their team in the Bundesliga this season, but that drops to 53.3 per cent when he is not in the side.
Schlotterbeck, Niclas Fullkrug, Toni Kroos and Antonio Rudiger will all link up with the squad late due to their involvement in the Champions League final.
The final 26-man squad must be submitted on June 7, meaning at least one player will be dropped before the start of the tournament.
As the tournament hosts, Germany begin their Euro 2024 campaign in the opening game against Scotland on June 14.
Germany squad
Goalkeepers: Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Alexander Nubel (Stuttgart), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona)
Defenders: Waldemar Anton (Stuttgart), Benjamin Henrichs (RB Leipzig), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt), Maximilian Mittelstadt (Stuttgart), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen)
Midfielders: Robert Andrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Chris Fuhruch (Stuttgart), Pascal Gross (Brighton), Ilkay Gundogan (Barcelona), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Aleksandar Pavlovic (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sane (Bayern Munich), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Forwards: Maximilian Beier (Hoffenheim), Niclas Fullkrug (Borussia Dortmund), Kai Havertz (Arsenal), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Denis Undav (Stuttgart)
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