Tottenham Hotspur slumped to their third defeat in as many matches courtesy of Fulham's 1-0 triumph at White Hart Lane this afternoon.

Goalscoring chances were few and far between during the first half, with both defences on top in North London.

The best opportunities were carved out by hosts Spurs, who saw a headed effort from Gareth Bale cleared off the line by Sascha Riether during the opening exchanges.

© PA Photos

As the half drew to a close the Fulham defence parted open for Tottenham midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson, but the Icelandic international was unable to keep his effort on target.

Having created very little during the first 45 minutes, the visiting Cottagers went on to break the deadlock seven minutes after the restart. Having saved his side a goal earlier in the encounter, Riether got forward from defence to send in a low cross for Dimitar Berbatov, who slid the ball beyond the reach of Hugo Lloris.

As the match ticked towards the hour mark, Fulham went close to adding a second when Brede Hangeland met a flick on from Bryan Ruiz, but the Norwegian centre-back could only guide his headed effort from close range wide of the goal.

Jermain Defoe went closest to claiming an equaliser for Spurs with 20 minutes remaining, but his low effort was parried to safety by Mark Schwarzer, who was rarely called into action as the encounter ended 1-0 in his team's favour.