Goals from key duo Son Heung-min and James Maddison sent Tottenham back to the Premier League summit with a professional 2-0 win over Fulham.
Spurs had claimed top spot before the international break, but watched rivals Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool all leapfrog them across the weekend to raise the stakes of Monday’s London derby.
Fulham proved no match for Ange Postecoglou’s resurgent team and after Son grabbed his seventh goal of an impressive season in the 36th minute, he turned provider after half-time with an assist for partner in crime Maddison.
It was the latest example of the pair combining and a further nod to the present with Son’s once-famed partnership with Harry Kane, now of Bayern Munich, fast becoming a distant memory.
Next up for Postecoglou’s pace-setters is a trip to Crystal Palace on Friday where they could extend their lead at the top to five points with another win.
This was Spurs’ first home match since the Israel-Hamas conflict started and a moment’s silence occurred before kick-off for the innocent civilians killed, during which several Israeli flags were held up by supporters in different areas of the stadium.
Tottenham were without the suspended Yves Bissouma, which meant Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg earned his second start of the season.
Hojbjerg’s other start was the Carabao Cup shoot-out defeat to Fulham in August, but the hosts quickly set about correcting the only blot on Postecoglou’s near-perfect copybook in N17.
Visiting goalkeeper Bernd Leno was alert in the second minute to deny Son after a trademark Maddison through ball before Micky van de Ven hooked over from a free-kick soon after.
While Spurs’ ascent to first had seen them score 18 times in eight matches, they had also tightened up defensively and summer recruit Guglielmo Vicario demonstrated his class with a crucial stop in the 11th minute.
A corner from Andreas Pereira picked out Joao Palhinha, but his towering header was brilliantly tipped away by Vicario’s left glove.
One-time Tottenham loanee Carlos Vinicius sent a header wide not long after before Postecoglou’s men started to turn the screw.
Richarlison curled wide from 20 yards following a lightning-quick counter-attack, but the breakthrough did arrive in the 36th minute through Son’s seventh goal of the season.
Van de Ven was first to the loose ball after a poor Calvin Bassey pass and touched into Richarlison, who recycled into Son’s path and Spurs’ number seven turned away from Tim Ream before he produced a sumptuous finish into the top corner.
It was a deserved opener and it could have been 2-0 moments later with Bassey first heading away with Son ready to pounce before the Tottenham captain back-heeled to Destiny Udogie, but his shot was blocked.
There was still time for another opening when Cristian Romero played in Dejan Kulusevski, although the Swedish attacker tried to tee up Richarlison when the goal was at his mercy and Fulham survived.
Fulham boss Marco Silva made a double substitution at the break with Raul Jimenez and Alex Iwobi introduced, but the second for Spurs arrived in the 54th minute.
It was a carbon copy of the opener with Bassey’s pass out from the back intercepted by the excellent Hojbjerg and Son played through to Maddison, who coolly angled beyond Leno for his third goal of the term.
With the result almost already assured, Udogie and Pape Sarr did limp off in a concern for Postecoglou before Maddison almost made it 3-0.
Maddison led the press brilliantly and forced another error from Bassey by winning back possession, but Ream came across to block his effort.
And another strong stop by Vicario from Jimenez late on secured a fourth clean sheet this season for the early leaders.
Bruno Fernandes hints at Manchester United departure
Bruno Fernandes hinted he may leave Manchester United in the close season, but insisted he will not consider his future until after the European Championship.
The United skipper has been one of the Red Devils' standout performers during a tricky campaign for Erik ten Hag's side, who are sixth in the Premier League and six points behind fifth-place Tottenham with three games remaining.
Fernandes has chipped in with 26 direct goal involvements (15 goals, 11 assists) - the most by any United player - and became the first player to create over 100 chances in the Premier League this term during Saturday's 1-1 draw with Burnley.
The club are reportedly prepared to sell most of their top players in the close season under the new Jim Ratcliffe regime, though the Portugal international is still under contract at Old Trafford until June 2026.
With the European Championship and an FA Cup final against Manchester City on the horizon, the 29-year-old says that remains his top priority and he will focus on his future further down the line.
"I'm not thinking about other things at the moment. Obviously, it doesn't just depend on me, does it?" he told DAZN Portugal.
"A player always has to want to be here, but at the same time, you have to want him to stay. At the moment, I feel there's that on both sides.
"I'm not thinking too much about the future, not least because this season hasn't been at the level I’d hoped for - either individually or collectively - so far.
"If I have to think about not continuing in the Premier League, it won't be until after the Euros. Nothing will be able to take my focus away from the FA Cup final and the Euros, as there's nothing more important than that at the moment."
Ancelotti defends Kroos substitution against Bayern Munich
Carlo Ancelotti defended his decision to substitute Toni Kroos during Real Madrid's 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich.
The two European heavyweights shared the spoils in a thrilling Champions League semi-final first leg at the Allianz Arena, where Vinicius Junior's late penalty levelled the tie.
Vinicius had opened the scoring in the 24th minute after latching onto Kroos' delicious throughball, one of a game-high 15 line-breaking passes the Germany midfielder played during the first half.
The 34-year-old was replaced by Brahim Diaz for the final 14 minutes of the contest, which Bayern had turned around thanks to second-half strikes from Leroy Sane and Harry Kane.
But Ancelotti, who knows the support of Madrid's fans will be crucial when he welcomes his former club to Santiago Bernabeu for next week's second leg, explained his thinking.
"Jude Bellingham had cramp, Toni Kroos played a spectacular game, but the plan was to try to recover the control of the game by putting fresh legs in," the Italian told reporters during his post-match press conference.
"As always, at this point in the season, we have a great opportunity to play in another final. It's an even tie against a great team. It will be another 90 minutes of suffering, but in an atmosphere that we know quite well. The fans are going to help us."
Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel knows Bayern will have their work cut out in the second leg, but has encouraged his players to be confident and embrace the challenge.
"The situation is now very clear," he said. "We go to Madrid and the winner takes it all. We are ready to fight. It is important to believe that.
"It is still possible. It is 50-50. It is one of the toughest places to win, but that is also what makes this challenge exciting."
Manchester United clearout continues as two more senior boardroom figures depart
Manchester United have continued their clearout under Jim Ratcliffe by confirming the departures of Patrick Stewart and Cliff Baty.
Interim chief executive Stewart and chief financial officer Baty will depart Old Trafford at the end of the current campaign.
Stewart, who replaced Richard Arnold in the position at the start of the year, will be temporarily replaced by Jean-Claude Blanc until Omar Berrada arrives in July, while Roger Bell will take over from Baty.
The news was confirmed by United on their official website on Tuesday.
INEOS Sport chief Blanc is well known to Ratcliffe, who recently bought a 27.7-per-cent stake in United and is in control of footballing affairs.
Bell also has ties to INEOS and will now take up the same CFO role at Old Trafford.
Ratcliffe said: "I would like to personally thank both Patrick and Cliff for their support in helping us get to know the club and making us feel welcome and I respect their decisions to now move on as we establish a new management team for the club."
Executive co-chairman Joel Glazer said: "I would like to thank Patrick and Cliff for their dedicated service to Manchester United and wish them well for the future.
"Both have been a source of invaluable advice and expertise over many years, and Patrick has served an important role as interim CEO during this transitional phase."
Since Ratcliffe purchased a minority stake in United, the club have made a number of other changes behind the scenes.
John Murtough stepped down as football director after more than a decade at the club, with Dan Ashworth lined up to replace him, while Jason Wilcox has been appointed as technical director.
United are sixth in the Premier League with four games remaining, raising questions over the future of manager Erik ten Hag under the new regime.
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