Floods on the banks of the Thames yesterday and, on the other, leaks everywhere. As water lapped right up to the doors of the boathouses on the Tideway, Fulham’s defence, and poor old Zat Knight, in particular, were proving about as robust as soggy cardboard. “You simply can’t defend like that,” Chris Coleman, the manager, said.

Tottenham Hotspur did not just inflict defeat in the FA Cup fifth-round tie, but embarassment as they romped to an unexpectedly easy victory and into today’s quarter-final draw. Robbie Keane’s spectacular brace of goals was followed by a pair for Dimitar Berbatov, while Fulham also lost Vincenzo Montella to a red card for swinging an elbow.

That ill-tempered finale was followed by a bust-up between the hapless Knight and some of his own supporters. A Fulham spokesman confirmed that words had been exchanged and that the captain had lost his temper after a trying afternoon.

Relief for Martin Jol, the Tottenham Hotspur head coach, at a time when his record has been coming under scrutiny, was as marked as despair for his opposite number. Coleman even talked of being dragged into a relegation fight despite a 12-point cushion, and Fulham will have to improve considerably if further humiliation is not to follow when Manchester United visit on Saturday.

Spurs must have prepared themselves for a tougher test than this. Only one point separates these two London sides in the Barclays Premiership and they had played out two draws in the league. Particularly with grumblings among the Tottenham fans about another season of transition – ie, underachievement – it had all the makings of a close contest.

It remained so for all of six minutes when Knight made the first of his many glaring errors and Keane inflicted eye-catching punishment. Paul Robinson had hoofed the ball upfield and Mido beat Philippe Christanval to apply the flick. Knight, Fulham’s captain, watched all of this with apparent disinterest.

While he stood in a daze, Keane latched on to the bouncing ball and, from just outside the area, hit a superb first-time volley past Jan Lastuvka. The goalkeeper might have done better but then so might others in the Fulham defence, all afternoon. “It is just a long punt and a flick-on,” a dejected Coleman said. “We were very naive in our defending.” What made it worse was that Keane’s second, more than a turgid hour later, was almost identical.

Again the long ball, again the flick from Mido and again Knight unable to make the intervention (although, at least, this time he was in the vicinity). Keane’s volley on the run was more impressive than the first.

There was a brief Fulham flurry that gave Robinson the chance to restate his England credentials in the wake of his recent omission against Spain. A couple of punches were miscued, but there were four or five excellent saves. “We were OK going forward,” Coleman said. “Our defence did not actually have to do any more than theirs.”

Yet still they managed to concede four goals. Berbatov had been on for only four minutes when he was at the sharp end of a counter-attack prompted by Didier Zokora. The Bulgarian striker’s first shot hit Knight’s foot and then the post, but, if the Fulham captain thought that was a lucky break, he should have known better. The ball came straight back out to Berbatov, who passed it left-footed into the net.

Then, with time running out, Moritz Volz played Berbatov onside after a flick through from Keane. As time seemed to stand still – the Fulham defence had now gone from slow to completely static – the striker lifted the ball over Lastuvka and into an empty net.

There was just time for Montella, on as a substitute, to swing an arm at Keane. “He’s raised his elbow and caught Keane in the mush,” Coleman said of the Italian striker, who will faces an automatic three-match ban. The Welshman had no complaints about the dismissal, but plenty regarding his defence.

HOW THEY LINED UP

Fulham (4-4-2): J Lastuvka – M Volz, P Christanval, Z Knight, F Queudrue – S Davies, P Bouba Diop, A Smertin, T Radzinski (sub: C Dempsey, 68min) – H Helguson (sub: V Montella, 62), B McBride (sub: C John, 62). Substitutes not used: T Warner, C Bocanegra. Booked: Diop, Queudrue. Sent off: Montella

Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2): P Robinson – P Chimbonda, M Dawson, A Gardner, L Young-Pyo – A Lennon (sub: H Ghaly, 83), D Zokora, T Tainio, S Malbranque – R Keane, Mido (sub: D Berbatov, 73). Substitutes not used: R Cerny, T Huddlestone, R Rocha. Booked: Gardner, Keane

WHAT’S NEXT

Eleven teams go into the pot for today’s FA Cup sixth-round draw with dreams of Wembley. Chelsea, Plymouth Argyle, Watford, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur are certain of a place in the last eight, but Arsenal and Manchester United face difficult replays away from home if they are to secure a place in the quarter-finals.

Quarter-final draw Today, 1.30pm Television BBC Two, Sky Sports News

FA Cup fifth-round replays Tues, Feb 27 Middlesbrough v West Bromwich Albion, 7.45pm Reading v Manchester United, 8pm Wed, Feb 28 Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal, 8pm

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