Rodrigo Muniz double hits Tottenham’s top-four hopes as Fulham ease to win

This time last year, Rodrigo Muniz was struggling for gametime on loan at Middlesbrough and probably wondering whether he had made the right choice in swapping Flamengo for Fulham in 2021.

Fast forward 12 months and the baby-faced Brazilian forward is quickly becoming one of the Premier League’s most prolific scorers after two goals here to take his tally to seven in his past seven matches as Fulham left in tatters Ange Postecoglou’s hopes of Tottenham leapfrogging Aston Villa into fourth place.

It was a scintillating performance throughout from Marco Silva’s team, who richly deserved their comprehensive victory after Sasa Lukic had added to Muniz’s brilliant opener just after half-time. For Tottenham, who were never allowed out of first gear, this was a concerning defeat at just the wrong time after all the positivity stemming from the win last week against their Champions League‑chasing rivals Aston Villa.

Postecoglou promised this past week that Tottenham’s plan to strengthen his squad in the summer “has already been laid”, although he said his priority is achieving a strong finish to his first season in charge. Reinforcing central defence is expected to be high on the Spurs manager’s wishlist after a season in which his side have been racked by injuries and suspensions.

Radu Dragusin was handed his first start since joining from Genoa in January after Micky van de Ven was ruled out with another hamstring problem and the Romania international was straight into the action as Fulham took the game to their opponents from the first whistle. It needed a timely block from Dragusin to divert Andreas Pereira’s shot wide of the post in the second minute after a rapid Fulham break that set the tone for the first half.

Silva said the absence of Armando Broja from his match‑day squad – as he welcomed back Raúl Jiménez from injury – was “a technical decision”, with Chelsea now due an extra £4m under the terms of the striker’s loan move. With Muniz combining brilliantly with his fellow Brazilians Willian and Pereira, it’s easy to see why Fulham have improved so much over the past few weeks.

The former Manchester United academy player should have taken his opportunity after Guglielmo Vicario could only palm Alex Iwobi’s cross straight into his path but he was denied by a brilliant block from Cristian Romero. Vicario then had to be alert to deny Sasa Lukic at his near post from the follow-up.

Spurs had to wait until midway through the first half for their first sight of goal after James Maddison teed up Son Heung-min but his shot was off-target. Willian could only fire straight at Vicario after another Fulham break, while no one in a dark shirt could provide the ­finishing touch when Dragusin slid the ball across the face of Bernd Leno’s area.

Maddison was inches wide with a clever reverse shot that sent the Fulham captain’s water bottle flying following a typically driving run from Destiny Udogie as the visitors began to look much more dangerous.

Yet it was Fulham that finally broke the deadlock at the end of a pulsating first half when Antonee Robinson’s brilliant early cross found Muniz, who controlled the ball superbly with his first touch and smashed it into the net with his second.

Tottenham’s task was made twice as difficult four minutes into the ­second half when Iwobi was allowed time and space to set up Timothy Castagne for a cross, which was turned home via Lukic’s knee at the near post for his first goal since his arrival from Torino in January 2023.

João Palhinha earned himself a yellow card for a reckless challenge on Maddison that left the England midfielder clutching his ankle. Fulham smelled blood and Castagne almost made it 3-0 when he raced through on goal only to be denied by Vicario.

But Tottenham’s relief didn’t last long as Calvin Bassey’s shot from the resulting corner came back off the post and fell to the feet of Muniz, who managed to force the ball over the line despite the attentions of Dragusin. The 22-year-old appeared to take a knock in the process and was given a standing ovation as he left the pitch to be replaced by Jiménez.

Palhinha thought he had piled even more misery on Tottenham with a fourth goal, only for VAR to cut short his celebrations for offside. That was the cue for Maddison to be surprisingly hauled off in a triple substitution, with Brennan Johnson and then replacement Timo Werner both somehow contriving to miss open goals that could have given their side hope.

The only cause for any optimism was Richarlison’s return from injury as a late substitute but there was no hiding the disappointment of some Spurs fans who slipped away into the night well before the final whistle had been blown.