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Monday, January 5, 1998 Published at 23:20 GMT Sport: Football Spurs see off Fulham challenge Christian Gross: Under fire but victorious
Spurs boss Christian Gross saw his side sweep aside Kevin Keegan's Fulham to take their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
The 3-1 victory sees the north London club hosting Premiership strugglers Barnsley in the next round.
The match went as the form book would suggest. Premiership quality too much for second division Fulham.
But with Spurs languishing at the foot of the table and Fulham spending over £5m on players recently, some commentators were looking for an upset that was not to be.
The match itself was a lumbering affair, with plenty of action, but few clear chances until teenage midfielder Stephen Clemence scored his first senior goal for Tottenham.
The big moment for 19-year-old Clemence came in the 19th minute when Portuguese winger Jose Domingues found him with a perfectly weighted through ball.
The son of former England keeper Ray Clemence smartly held off the challenge
of Fulham's ex-Southampton defender Alan Neilson on the edge of the box before
striding on to shoot convincingly wide of goalkeeper Maik Taylor.
The second was a messy goal with effort making the difference rather than skill. The Scotland World Cup defender, Calderwood, playing in midfield, knocked the ball over the line with his knee after Ramon Vega had set up the chance with his persistence at a corner.
Fulham gave themselves a chance to get back into the game after half-time when Matt Lawrence sent over a splendid cross.
It was an open invitation for former Spurs reserve Neil Smith to jab the ball home from close range and spread temporary panic in his old club's defence.
But Spurs restored their two-goal cushion just after the hour when the Fulham keeper was fooled by the bounce of a well-timed header.
Domingues, running clear on the left, picked out Garry Brady with a perfect cross.
Although Taylor plunged to turn the youngster's header against the post, his despairing grab at the rebound became a push which took the ball over the line for a tragic own goal.
Spurs had further chances to put the game clean away. But the Fulham chairman Mohammed Al Fayed will have to spend some more money to allow the Craven Cottage side to again compete with the big-boys.
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