Tottenham Hotspur have been eliminated from the EFL Cup second round by their London rival, Fulham after losing 5-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage on Tuesday night.
Ange Postecoglou made nine changes to the Tottenham side that beat Bournemouth 2-0 in the Premier League last weekend, with only Van de Ven and Richarlison retaining their places, while former Fulham man Manor Solomon was handed his full debut.
Without the presence of Marco Silva on the touchline due to a one-game suspension, Fulham made six changes of their own after drawing 2-2 with Arsenal last Saturday, with the two most notable inclusions being new recruit Adama Traore, who was handed his first start, and striker Rodrigo Muniz.
Richarlison opened his account for the season with a header after Fulham defender Kenny Tete was forced to return to the changing room to find a replacement boot.
That cancelled 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.
Fulham had the last laugh as they converted all five of their efforts in the penalty shootout, while Davinson Sanchez was the unfortunate one who saw his tame strike from 12 yards saved by Marek Rodak.
While Fulham have now made amends for their shock elimination to Crawley Town in the second round last season, this is the first time in 18 years Tottenham have crashed out as early as Round Two of the competition.
Ange Postecoglou who defended his team selection after the match said;
“Obviously disappointed with the outcome, getting knocked out of the cup.
“We weren’t at our fluent best particularly early on which was not surprising considering the amount of changes I made. A lot of the boys tonight, it was their first start of the season.
“We lacked cohesion and fluency. But I really liked the way we hung in there. There are many different ways to grow as a team and we showed some real character tonight. To hang in there and we had our moments in the second half to maybe go and win it. We weren’t able to get over the line and lost on penalties.”
