Tottenham 1-1 Fulham: Tom Cairney comes on to net equaliser before seeing a straight red after Brennan Johnson had opened the scoring

Tom Cairney was on the pitch for little more than 20 minutes but he earned Fulham a point and wounded Tottenham.

Cairney came off the bench to score within five minutes, his first goal in almost a year to wipe out Brennan Johnson’s opener.

Then his tackle from behind on Dejan Kulusevski left Fulham to see out the game with 10 men, which they did without too much cause for alarm.

The draw leaves Spurs with only one win in five games, although that just happens to be a 4-0 at Manchester City.

Ange Postecoglou’s injury problems continued to pile up with Archie Gray off injured after coming on near the end.

With Dominic Solanke sent home unwell before kick-off, Tottenham started with Heung-min Son at centre forward. Son forced Bernd Leno into a save within a minute but does not provide the same physical presence as Solanke.

Cairney produced a brilliant strike from the edge of the area to level the scoreline 

Goalkeeper Fraser Forster could only watch as the ball made its way into the far corner 

He offers another kind of threat, dashing onto passes but Spurs found it difficult in the first half to establish any territory. The game fizzed from one end to the other and the visitors were slick in possession, testing Postecoglou’s patched-up defence.

Ben Davies made late interceptions and clearances, and Fraser Forster made some fine saves, the best of them to push a Raul Jimenez volley wide. Alex Iwobi crashed an effort against the bar, as the interval loomed.

Tottenham resisted and found some better rhythm. Radu Dragusin forced Leno into another save with a powerful header from a corner and James Maddison clipped the outside of a post in first-half stoppage-time, with a clever free-kick driven low as all the those in Fulham’s defensive wall jumped.

Maddison clutched his head as he crumpled to the turf. Spurs had spotted the opportunity and came within centimetres of making it pay.

Fulham were brightest again at the start of the second half, exerting pressure with the three former Arsenal forwards in their team causing problems with their pace and movement. Reiss Nelson rolled out the party pieces, turning at the last second to control one long pass with his back.

Forster saved a header from Issa Diop with a knee but just as they seemed to relax into being in the ascendancy Silva’s team were caught out at the back, with Johnson capitalising on space left behind by one of Antonee Robinson’s forays upfield.

Spurs worked the ball briskly from right to left through Son and Maddison before Werner clipped a pass back across to Johnson, who made no mistake on the volley. 

This has become the trademark goal of the season for Johnson, a first-time finish at speed cutting inside from the right.

Brennan Johnson (left) opened the scoring when he met Timo Werner’s ball at the back post

Johnson celebrates after giving Spurs the lead in Sunday’s Premier League clash 

Cairney’s challenge on Dejan Kulusevski was deemed worthy of a red after a VAR review

Cairney looked dejected as he walked off the pitch but his side were able to hold on for a point

Fulham to their credit refused to panic, continued to pick their passes and levelled through Cairney, who had only been on the pitch for five minutes when he slammed in a left-footer from 15 yards at the end of a patient passing move culminating in a lay-off by Iwobi.

It was his first goal for nearly a year although his delight soon vanished when his foul from behind on Kulusevski in midfield was picked up by the VAR.

Referee Darren Bond showed his yellow card at first but was referred to his monitor because Cairney caught Kulusevski midcalf with his studs. It did not look good on the slow-motion replays and the card was upgraded to a red.