What an opportunity this was for Tottenham Hotspur to break into the top four.
Fellow contenders Manchester United aren't in Premier League action this week and Aston Villa weren't playing until Sunday afternoon. A win for Ange Postecoglou's men, therefore, would have catapulted them into the Champions League places.
However, what ensued was arguably the worst performance of the Australian's reign in north London to date. Spurs never got out of the traps and were undone by one of the league's most in-form players Rodrigo Muniz who bagged a brace at Craven Cottage.
It was a weary old day for the Lilywhites, most notably Radu Dragusin who was making his first start in Tottenham colours.
Why Radu Dragusin was at fault against Fulham
This was precisely the eventuality the Romanian was signed in January for. If either Cristian Romero or Micky van de Ven are injured, as the Dutchman was this weekend, the central defender could deliver a competent display.
Unfortunately, his maiden start under Postecoglou looked more like fellow compatriot Vlad Chiriches than it did Romero or Van de Ven.
Statistically, the centre-back didn't look horrendous, notably completing 90% of his passes, two interceptions and five clearances. That said, the eye test told us all we needed to know.
For the opener, albeit it was a truly spectacular ball from Antonee Robinson. Dragusin left Rodrigo Muniz – the scorer of two goals – in acres of space behind him.
Then, for the third, it was Muniz who reacted quicker than Spurs' winter signing to get to the ball and tap home from close range after Calvin Bassey's effort had thundered off the post.
Whenever Van de Ven returns, you would think it would mean a pretty immediate benching for Dragusin following this display.
Unfortunately for Postecoglou, he wasn't the only man to let him down this weekend.
Brennan Johnson's performance in numbers
It's taken a while for the £47.5m addition from Nottingham Forest to get going in Spurs colours but in recent weeks the forward looked a man worth that fee.
Johnson had scored against Aston Villa six days prior, registered two assists versus Crystal Palace and found the net against Brighton, all in his last four outings.
This was a return to type for the Englishman, however, with Tottenham fans perhaps left wondering why they'd paid so much money for an inconsistent figure.
Discussing the winger after the game. Football.London's Alasdair Gold handed him a lowly 4/10 match rating, writing: "Couldn't match his previous displays, hit one weak shot at the keeper and was poor with the ball although he should have had an assist for a ball across the face of goal that Werner should have tucked into the net."
Minutes played
80
Touches
48
Accurate passes
21/30 (70%)
Crosses
1/3
Duels won
1/5
Possession lost
15x
Key passes
2
Shots
2
Dribble attempts
0/2
Unlucky not to add to his seasonal assist tally, yes, but this was a display lacking the front-footed nature we've seen from Johnson of late.
The former Forest man lost possession 15 times throughout, once every five minutes and only won 1/5 of his duels. Furthermore, Johnson was successful with just one of his three cross attempts and still failed to score from 0.77 xG, the highest of any Tottenham starter.
With Werner breathing over his shoulder and poignantly, Richarlison returning from injury, it would not be a surprise if their big-money signing was given a breather after the international break.
Postecoglou has more ruthless options in his arsenal and for that, Johnson should be fearing over what has been a regular starting spot in the past few weeks.
