Tottenham were brought back to reality after second-half goals from substitutes Rodrigo Muniz and Ryan Sessegnon lifted Fulham to eighth in the Premier League with a 2-0 home win.
Spurs still had hopes of a successful season in hand after beating AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League on Thursday to take the pressure off Ange Postecoglou, but they failed to build on that success.
A much-changed Tottenham side turned in the best performance in the second half after a dull opening 45 minutes, but it was two players brought on by Marco Silva who gave Fulham a vital three points in their bid to secure European qualification.
Muniz opened the scoring in the 78th minute with his ninth goal of the season, while former Tottenham defender Sessegnon produced an emotional moment as he curled the ball into the top corner late in a game that handed his former club their 15th league defeat of the season.
After Thursday's important win, Postecoglou made seven changes to his starting line-up, including dropping James Maddison and Son Heung-min to allow Archie Gray to make his first start for Spurs in midfield.
Fulham were given the chance to significantly improve their chances of finishing in the top seven and although Andreas Pereira shot wide early on, a lack of persistence kept the hosts from making a move in the early exchanges.
It created a sleepy atmosphere at Craven Cottage as Spurs controlled the ball but struggled to create chances.
Substitute Tottenham captain Cristian Romero drew cheers from the crowd when he collided with Willian, but referee Andrew Madley rejected a request for a free kick.
Shortly afterwards, Romero was brought to the ground by Calvin Bassey, prompting a huge round of applause from the Fulham fans.
However, despite an improvement in the tempo of Silva's side, which saw two Joachim Andersen shots blocked and Timothy Castagne fire at Guglielmo Vicario from 12 yards, the score remained level at half-time.
Spurs head coach Postecoglou had seen enough and brought on Lucas Bergwall and Son, who immediately helped the team take the lead.
Bergwall immediately created a chance for Dominic Solanke, but he headed wide before missing a more dangerous chance from Son's free-kick.
Son's free-kick went wide again and then Bergvall's shot went wide as Tottenham began to gather momentum.
Silva responded by bringing on Muñiz, but Postecoglou's next substitution opened the scoring in the 69th minute.
Maddison came on to showcase his abilities after being left out of the England squad and his first touch created a simple chance for Solanke, who volleyed home from six yards after Bernd Leno had obstructed Matis Thelu.
The miss backfired on Spurs as soon after Willian fired wide from 20 yards, Muñiz opened the scoring.
Tottenham failed to deal with Anthony Robinson's dangerous cross and Muñiz curled the ball into the bottom corner with 12 minutes remaining.
Seven minutes later, Bergwall called for a penalty when Bassey caught him in the box, but the decision was overturned and Sessegnon punished Ben Davies's poor defending with a superb curling strike in the 88th minute to seal victory.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
