Fulham's Rodrigo Muniz scored twice as Tottenham missed out on the chance of moving into the Premier League's top four after suffering a 3-0 defeat at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
Three points would have lifted Ange Postecoglou’s side a point ahead of Aston Villa but the north Londoners instead finish the weekend in fifth place.
Muniz’s double took his league tally to seven goals in his last seven games as the Cottagers claimed a deserved maximum. Sasa Lukic scored his first goal of the season as Marco Silva’s side bounced back from last week’s 2-1 defeat by Wolves.
"It was disappointing, obviously," said Postecoglou. "First half was a tight game, we had some chances they had some chances. Once they got the second goal, they got on top of us and we couldn't get a grip of the game like we needed to.
"It's something we need to analyse I thought we were careless on the ball. We were too keen to get forward. We lacked some conviction in our last third play. It's part of our growth. Feel that pain and learn from it. It does go down as a bad day at the office but we don't accept it. First half was even enough. It wasn't our normal levels. We didn't have the same intensity in our play. It's a big part of who we are."
Fulham defender Antonee Robinson told BBC Match of the Day: "We've had our moments this season and that's going to be up there. To do it in the way we did and to keep a keep clean means it's right up there for me.
"It's a real trend of ours, I don't think we've lost a game when we've scored first. We really showed we wanted to win that game. We kept our shape well and counter attacked really effectively."
Elsewhere, Luton Town rescued a potentially crucial point in their bid for Premier League survival as substitute Luke Berry struck an 89th minute equaliser to earn a 1-1 draw against fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest at Kenilworth Road.
The hosts looked set to fall six points behind Forest after Chris Wood’s first-half goal for the visitors, brilliantly set up by the influential Morgan Gibbs-White.
After collapsing when 3-0 up against Bournemouth in midweek, Luton were in need of a boost and it arrived in the closing stages. Reece Burke headed the ball goalwards from a corner and Berry pounced to thwart Forest.
Meanwhile, Burnley kept their slim survival hopes alive with a 2-1 victory over Brentford at Turf Moor.
The visitors had to play most of the match with 10 men after Sergio Reguilon was sent off with just nine minutes on the clock for a push on Vitinho inside the penalty area. It was the earliest red card of the Premier League season and Burnley took the lead from the resulting spot-kick as Jacob Bruun Larsen converted.
The Clarets seemed to have banked their first win of 2024 and first since a 2-0 victory over Fulham in December when Chelsea loanee David Datro Fofana stroked past Mark Flekken from inside the box to make it 2-0, but they were made to sweat for the win when Kristoffer Ajer pulled one back in the 83rd minute.
