Tudor lashes out at Spurs and accuses Fulham of cheating after derby defeat

• Tottenham slump to a second defeat under Igor Tudor as their winless Premier League run stretches to ten matches.
• The interim head coach criticises his own players while accusing Fulham of cheating in the build up to the opening goal.
• Marco Silva insists Fulham fully deserved victory after a dominant display.

Tottenham interim head coach Igor Tudor delivered a blistering assessment of his players and accused Fulham of cheating after another damaging Premier League defeat deepened the club’s relegation fears.

Spurs slipped to a 2-1 loss at Craven Cottage, their second defeat since Tudor took charge, after goals from Harry Wilson and Alex Iwobi. Richarlison pulled one back late on, but it was not enough to prevent Tottenham’s winless league run extending to a record equalling ten matches.

Tudor was incensed by Fulham’s opener, believing a push by Raúl Jiménez on Radu Dragusin should have been penalised. The Croatian pointed to the decision to rule out Tottenham’s goal against Arsenal last weekend for a similar challenge.

“Of course it is a foul,” Tudor said. “Nine out of ten people will say it is a foul because it is so obvious. Sometimes the criteria do not have consistency. Last week the same thing happened against Arsenal.

“He was not thinking about the ball. He was thinking how to cheat, so he cheated the player and they scored. That is cheating and it is a foul.”

Despite his anger at the decision, Tudor admitted the problems at Tottenham run far deeper than one refereeing call. The former Juventus manager offered a stark assessment of his struggling side.

“The problems are much bigger,” he said. “It is a complicated situation. We lack quality in attack, we lack energy in midfield, and we lack resilience in defence. We need more personality, more desire, and more responsibility from everyone.”

Tottenham were second best for much of the contest and only improved after Tudor introduced Pape Sarr, Mathys Tel and Richarlison in the second half. The changes brought more urgency, but the hosts had already done the damage.

Fulham doubled their lead in the 34th minute when Alex Iwobi struck from distance, leaving Spurs facing another uphill battle. Although Richarlison’s late goal offered brief hope, the visitors were unable to mount a meaningful comeback.

Fulham head coach Marco Silva declined to comment on the controversy surrounding the opening goal but was adamant his side deserved all three points.

“I respect their opinion, but I will not make any comments on it,” Silva said. “The result is clear. We deserved to win and the score could have been different with the number of chances we created. It was a great performance from us.”

The defeat leaves Tottenham four points clear of the relegation zone, with pressure mounting on a squad that appears short on confidence and cohesion. For Tudor, the challenge now is to find leadership and resilience within a group in danger of sleepwalking into a crisis.