Fulham 1 Tottenham 2: Meulensteen's one stopped in their trace by two fine Spurs advance from Chiriches and Holtby
Welcome to Premier League management, Rene.First came the ecstasy: Ashkan Dejagah firing Fulham in front. Then the agony: Vlad Chiriches' quite brilliant equaliser for Tottenham.
Then the heartbreaker: Lewis Holtby's late winner.
Belter: Vlad Chiriches (left) celebrates scoring Tottenham's equaliser against Fulham
Clinical: Ashkan Dejagah (left) celebrates scoring Fulham's first goal against Tottenham
MATCH FACTS
Subs not used: Stockdale, Zverotic, Boateng, Taarabt, Ruiz
Booked: Kasami
Goals: Dejagah 56'
Manager: Rene Meulensteen 7
Subs not used: Friedel, Naughton, Sigurdsson, Soldado
Booked: Capoue
Goals: Chiriches 73', Holtby 80'
Manager: Andre Villas-Boas 6
Ref: Mark Clattenburg 7
Att: 24,128
Man of the match: Kacaniklic
*Player ratings by Sami Mokbel at Craven Cottage
And it all came in his first game as a manager in England's top-flight.
Indeed, it was quite a baptism for Meulensteen - but his opposite number has his own problems to deal with.
Andre Villas-Boas must have been fearing another week of speculation about his job before Chriches and Holtby's late interventions.
But last Sunday's 2-2 draw against Manchester United and last night's win represents a good response from the embarrassing 6-0 defeat at Manchester United.
Meulensteen started with Dimitar Berbatov despite his agent saying earlier in the day that the Bulgarian wants to quit Fulham next month.
The home fans were not quite so forgiving, though, booing Berbatov when his name was read out ahead of kick off.
In total, the Dutch manager made seven changes from the side that started the 3-0 defeat against West Ham on Saturday - Martin Jol's final match in charge.
Likewise, his opposing manager wasn't backward in coming forward with alterations, Andre Villas-Boas making three changes from the side that drew against Manchester United on Sunday.
The Portuguese dropped £26million striker Roberto Soldado for Jermain Defoe, while Erik Lamela and Etienne Capoue were recalled in place of Nacer Chadli and the injured Moussa Dembele.
Screamer: Lewis Holtby celebrates scoring the winning goal for Tottenham against Fulham
Clinched: Tottenham players celebrate Holtby's winning goal against Fulham
Missed: Paulinho (centre) blazes a shot over the bar for Tottenham during their 2-1 over Fulham
Movement: Berbatov's heat map during Fulham game against Tottenham
New man: Rene Meulensteen (above) took charge of Fulham for the first time after taking over from Martin Jol
Forward: Dimitar Berbatov (centre) started the game despite reportedly being unhappy at Fulham
As if the desire for Meulensteen to impress on his big night wasn't large enough, the presence of owner Shahid Khan at Craven Cottage would not have eased any nerves.
Defoe wasted the first chance of the night after five minutes; latching onto Capoue's pass before forcing a good save from Maarten Steklenberg following John Arne Riise's misplaced pass.
Berbatov nearly turned the boos to cheers six minutes later, but his glancing header from Giorgious Karagounis's free-kick fell straight to Hugo Lloris.
Karagounis himself went close three minutes later, forcing Lloris into a decent save low to his right with a firecracker from the edge of the box.
But for Defoe's early chance, Meulensteen would have been happy with the opening moments of his career as a Premier League manager.
He would have been much happier if Lloris hadn't produced a brilliant save to deny Berbatov's 22nd minute shot after Spurs failed to deal with Patjim Kasami's cross.
Meulensteen couldn't believe his eyes on the touchline, and Spurs nearly made the Dutchman want to rip them out less than a minute later.
Sascha Riether's dreadful attempt to control Michael Dawson's long clearance left Defoe in acres of space; instead of shooting the striker passed to Paulinho but with just Steklenberg to beat the Brazilian wildly blazed over.
Fulham threatened again in the 24th minute, Dejagah heading narrowly over from Karagounis' corner before Lamela missed an excellent shane after good work from Paulinho and Defoe.
Spurs made a half-time change, Holtby replacing Capoue, who had seemingly picked up an injury during the opening 45 minutes.
Decisive: Fulham owner Shahid Khan (centre) sacked Martin Jol and replaced him with Meulensteen
Knock: Kyle Walker suffered a bleeding nose during the match between Fulham and Tottenham
The substitution did not effect the visitors, however, as Defoe, Holtby and Sandro threatened Fulham's goal.
But then Meulensteen's big moment arrived.
Berbatov took advantage of a mix-up between Dawson and Paulinho to float a beautiful ball into Dejagah's path, and the Fulham striker cooly scored the first goal of Meulensteen's reign - and his first for the club - firing past Lloris in the 56th minute.
Meulensteen was euphoric on the bench, Villas-Boas needed a response.
And boy did the Spurs manager get it as his side clinched victory front he jaws of defeat.
First Chiriches hammered home a brilliant half-volley from 35 yards after Kyle Walker's corner was half cleared in the 73rd minute to begin the comeback.
And then eight minutes from time, another wonder strike, this time from substitute Holtby, handed Spurs only their third win in 10 Premier League games.
But even then Villas-Boas men needed a two super saves from Hugo Lloris, first from Bryan Ruiz and then Berbatov in the dying seconds, to clinch victory.
It was exactly what the Portuguese boss needed after a difficult couple of weeks.
Meulensteen will hope he can follow suit against Aston Villa this weekend.
Pace: Aaron Lennon in action against John Arne Risse and Alexander Kacaniklic of Fulham
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