LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) - Struggling Tottenham Hotspur stretched their Premier League winless run to 10 games with a stinging 2-1 defeat at cross-town London rivals Fulham on Sunday that left them still in danger of the drop.
Four points clear of 18th-placed West Ham United, Tottenham left Craven Cottage ever more in a relegation scrap after another derby disappointment following last week's 4-1 home thrashing by leaders Arsenal.
Harry Wilson opened the scoring in the seventh minute for Fulham, the goal given after a VAR review and angry Spurs complaints that Radu Dragusin had been fouled by Fulham striker Raul Jimenez.
There was nothing remotely controversial about Fulham's second, lashed in by Alex Iwobi in the 34th with the ball swerving past Guglielmo Vicario and into the net off the inside left post.
Richarlison pulled a goal back with a 66th-minute header, eight minutes after coming on as a substitute, to set up a nervy finish but the hosts should have put the match to bed by then with missed chances and vital saves from Vicario.
MANAGER TUDOR SEES BIG PROBLEMS AT SPURS
"We were not good, lacked everything. Attacking and defending. Fulham were much better. There are problems here, big problems," said new Spurs boss Igor Tudor, who has now lost his first two matches in charge.
Fulham are ninth, level with Everton on 40 points and still pushing for a place in Europe next season after completing the league double over Spurs.
Tottenham, who did not manage a single shot on target until Richarlison's goal, stayed 16th with 10 games left and are the only top flight team without a league win this year.
Luckily for them, the three teams immediately below them all lost with only last-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers, 16 points behind Spurs, winning on Friday.
Given plenty of space by the visitors, Fulham could have been 3-0 up six minutes after the break when Emile Smith Rowe sent a shot across goal and just wide of the post with Vicario beaten.
Vicario then made a vital save from the ever lively Rowe at close range in the 62nd as Tottenham kept on running into dead ends while Fulham created space for themselves time and again.
Tudor, who took the helm after replacing the sacked Thomas Frank, did not want to talk about the relegation threat but said he wanted to see much more from his players.
"We don't need to think about that, not because it cannot happen but we must focus on growing mentality as a team, concentration, physically. These are the only goals we must have," he said
"We need to find forces inside each of us," he added, recognising there was a lack of confidence in the injury-depleted squad.
"More personality, more wish to improve. Plenty of things. I want to see everything more."
Fulham boss Marco Silva said the scoreline did not reflect his side's superiority and the number of chances.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar and Toby Davis)
