Tottenham struggles with 0 shots on target as Son sits on bench vs Fulham

Will Son Heung-min (33) change the momentum in the second half? Tottenham Hotspur ended the first half with 1 shot and 0 on target.

Tottenham Hotspur is facing Fulham in the 29th round of the 2024-2025 Premier League (PL) at Craven Cottage in London, England, at 10:30 p.m. on the 16th (Korean time). Both teams finished the first half 0-0.

Currently, Tottenham is in 13th place with 34 points (10 wins, 4 draws, 14 losses). Fulham is in 10th place with 42 points (11 wins, 9 draws, 8 losses). Even if Tottenham wins this match, their ranking will not change, but if they lose, they could be overtaken by Manchester United in 15th place, who also has 34 points.

Tottenham started with a 4-3-3 formation. Mathys Tel, Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson, Rodrigo Bentancur, Archie Gray, Yves Bissouma, Destiny Udogie, Ben Davies, Cristian Romero, and Jed Spence, along with Guglielmo Vicario, were named to the starting lineup.

Son Heung-min started on the bench, likely because he played the full 90 minutes in the match against AZ Alkmaar on the 14th. In addition to Son, other key players such as Wilson Odobert, James Maddison, Lucas Veribal, Pape Sarr, Pedro Porro, and Mickey van der Ven were also included in the substitute list.

Fulham opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation. Raúl Jiménez, Willian, Emil Smith Rowe, Alex Iwobi, Sander Berge, Andreas Pereira, Antonee Robinson, Calvin Bassey, Joachim Andersen, Timothy Castagne, and Bernd Leno were named to the starting lineup.

Both teams engaged in a cautious exploration rather than forcing attacks. They exchanged offensive moves after a fierce confrontation in the midfield, but aside from Bentancur's header from a corner kick in the 15th minute of the first half, there were hardly any shots.

Tottenham had a sense of regret. In the 21st minute of the first half, Tel dribbled past three defenders with a sudden move on the left. However, the finish was extremely inaccurate. Tel attempted to pass the ball to Solanke, who was rushing toward the goal, but the pass flew far away.

Fulham took the first shot inside the box. In the 34th minute of the first half, Davis failed to properly handle Iwobi's cross. As the ball fell nearby, Castagne rushed in and connected with a left-footed shot, but it went straight to the goalkeeper.

In the closing minutes of the first half, Fulham did not miss Tottenham's mistakes and tried to capitalize on them, but to no avail. By the end of the 1 minute of added time in the first half, the score remained unchanged. Both teams concluded the first half without a goal.

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