Not for the first time this season, Tottenham have found a way. Under Mauricio Pochettino, they continue to do more with less.

The build-up to this match was dominated by how Spurs would cope in the absence of their two greatest goalscoring threats. Would Erik Lamela or Dele Alli play as a false nine or would Fernando Llorente lead the line? Once Lucas Moura was ruled out, the point was moot; Spurs simply had insufficient numbers of actual footballers available to play either Lamela or Alli out of position.

Llorente’s inclusion was as much and as little a show of faith as the words ‘I believe you to be a better footballer than Georges-Kevin Nkoudou’. And after 94 muddled, breathless and increasingly silly minutes at Craven Cottage, even that was no longer clear.

Llorente endured an almost sarcastically bad afternoon having been handed just his second Premier League start in 18 months at Tottenham. In fairness, he did score in the previous one and maintained that record here, in a way.

His hapless own goal was a gift for bantermeisters all over the internet – hey, guys, if you just rearrange the first three letters of his surname it spells LOL! – but really it was the least of his issues. Spurs had considered playing a false nine and ended up with a fake one. He gave Fulham’s defence, the leakiest in the Premier League, absolutely nothing to worry about for the entire game. He made no runs, he never held the ball up, and the three touches he had in the Fulham area were as uncertain as the one in his own.

It’s pretty harsh to compare any back-up striker in the world to Harry Kane, but there was a comparison to make with his opposite number today. The contrast between Llorente’s disappearing act and Aleksandar Mitrovic was vast. Spurs had three excellent centre-backs on the pitch and all three – Davinson Sanchez especially – will have known they’d been in a battle.

Having picked three centre-backs to free Kieran Trippier and Danny Rose to play their preferred wing-back roles – again, less a tactical decision than the only way to arrange their available players – Spurs looked set to threaten David Moyes’ Manchester United side’s crossing record in the early minutes.

But whether it was a desire to avoid becoming one-dimensional or dwindling faith in their shrinking striker, Spurs increasingly tried to pick their way through packed central areas.

Fulham’s goal was pure banter, but it was not undeserved. Ryan Babel – impressive on his second Premier League debut before running out of steam early in the second half – had already gone close and for all the attention on the attacking players Spurs’ defence looked uncertain all afternoon. Had Fulham gone in to the break two or even three ahead it would not have flattered them.

Spurs, though, were far better in the second period. They did little different, they just did it more sharply, more precisely and with intent and belief. When the equaliser came it was a reminder that this team still have plenty of ways to score without Kane and Son. Christian Eriksen seems to have provided this exact assist for Dele Alli to score this exact goal at least half-a-dozen times in the last three years.

Ultimately, Alli’s hamstring injury may prove more significant than his goal in the tale of the season. But really, who knows? His replacement, Nkoudou, had long been on the Tottenham scrapheap but stepped off the bench to provide the assist for the late, late winner.

Helloooo u remember me ? 🙈🙈 #COYS — GK NKoudou (@gknkoudou) January 20, 2019

Harry Winks, he’s one of their own. Spurs deserve credit for continuing to play their own game until the very last. The winning goal came from one of the best moves of the afternoon, the ball moved from back to front and out to the left with pace and precision before Winks ended an afternoon he spent pretty much as a one-man central midfield with a gloss finish.

The focus will shift from how Spurs cope without their two likeliest goalscorers to how Spurs cope without their three likeliest goalscorers.

But for now credit where it’s due. The zero in their draws column approaching two-thirds distance in the season is a quirk, of course, but it’s not entirely random. They go for the win until the very end and here, even without their three best finishers, retained the belief that a victory could and would come. This was their second injury-time winner in seven games, and both were reward for backing their own proven approach even when they had fallen short of their best for most of the previous 90 minutes, even when the opposition had raised their game to thwart them.

This was a big game for Spurs after a rare week off to stew on the defeat to Manchester United, and Fulham played the first 45 minutes clearly believing this was A Good Time To Play Them. The sheer lateness of Spurs’ winner will leave the Cottagers feeling aggrieved; given time to reflect they will look back ruefully at their own profligacy in front of goal and some all-too familiar individual defensive errors.

But Mauricio Pochettino and his team continue to overcome setback after setback. No signings. No stadium. No Son, no Kane and, by the time Winks found the energy to burst into the six-yard box after 93 minutes of midfield running, no Alli.

It is still January and this is already Spurs’ most successful ever Premier League season away from home; they have won 11 games on the road this season, more than anyone bar Man City have won at home.

Doing more with less? It has never been truer at Spurs than it is right now. And they’ve got Chelsea away in a cup semi-final on Thursday.

Dave Tickner