CARABAO CUP SEMI-FINAL
(First leg)
WEDNESDAY 8TH JANUARY, 2025
(8PM)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1(0) LIVERPOOL 0(0)

Scorer:-
Bergvall, 86

Attendance:- 59,037

Referee:- Stuart Attwell
Assistants:- Lee Betts and Constantine Hatzidakis
Fourth Official:- Tim Robinson
VAR:- Paul Tierney
AVAR:- Timothy Wood

Teams:-
Spurs (4-2-1-3):- 31. Kinsky; 23. Pedro Porro, 6. Dragusin, 14. Gray, 24. Spence; 8. Bissouma, Bentancur (sub Johnson, 15); 15. Bergvall; 21. Kulusevski, 19. Solanke, 7. Son (Capt.) (sub 16. Werner, 72)
(Armband to Kulusevski)

Subs not used:- 40. Austin; 3. Reguilon, 48. Dorrington; 18. Min-hyeok, 47. Moore, 64. Olusesi; 42. Lankshear

Booked:- Bissouma (foul on Jota), Bergvall (foul on Diaz)

Liverpool (4-2-3-1):- 1. Alisson; 84. Bradley (sub 66. Alexander-Arnold, 60), 78. Quansah (sub 3. Endo, 30), 4. Van Dijk (Capt.), 21. Tsimikas; 38. Gravenberch, 10. MacAllister (sub 5. Konate, 80); 11. Salah, 17. Jones, 18. Gakpo (sub 7. Diaz, 60); 20. Jota (sub 9. Nunez, 60)

Subs not used:- 62. Kelleher; 26. Robertson; 19. Elliott; 14. Chiesa

No bookings

Lucas has the energy, the goal, and the headlines!

18-year-old Lucas Bergvall gave a high-energy performance; scored his first club goal, which proved to be the match-winner on the night; and has all the headlines because of Liverpool's insistence Bergvall should have been sent off for a second yellow card just before the goal. It isn't game, set and match to Spurs though, but we will go to Anfield in four weeks' time with a lead to take into the second leg.

Spurs gave a great performance to win on the night here against a strong Liverpool team, although two or three regular starters were given a start on the bench. Signed from Slavia Prague on Monday, 21-year-old goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky was thrown in at the deep end in this semi-final and gave a more than competent debut. Kinsky is clearly destined to challenge Vicario for the number one goalkeeper slot in time.

Another 18-year-old - Archie Gray - played his eighth consecutive 90 minutes at centre-back and had a great game. Djed Spence, playing at left back also impressed, but this was a very good all-round team performance.

After Rodrigo Bentancur caused deep concern when he collapsed after a Spurs corner and needed lengthy treatment, Spurs were playing without three recognised centre-backs (Romero, Van de Ven and Davies) and three regular midfielders (Bentancur, Sarr and Maddison). The two last-named players were suspended for this game.

It was another bitterly cold night at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Spurs kicked off and played towards the North Stand. Liverpool's army of fans occupied two tiers of that stand in the north-east corner. Many unfamiliar faces were seen in other parts of the ground.

Liverpool failed with an early play-out move. Solanke stole the ball and tried to tee up Kulusevski, but that effort was cleared. Spurs won a corner on the right, taken by Pedro Porro. Son's effort was blocked and Dragusin's shot was saved by Alisson. It was after this move that Bentancur was discovered on the floor. He was ultimately stretchered off and Brennan Johnson came on to play on the right side. We heard later that Bentancur was conscious and talking, so hopefully he can make a quick and full recovery.

A Kulusevski effort will count as a shot on target, but his shot was an easy pick-up for the Liverpool keeper. At the other end, Kinsky was looking comfortable, both playing out and mixing that with good passes further up our half and centrally towards either Solanke or Johnson. I get the feeling that Postecoglou has moderated his style somewhat and there was certainly less ponderous play at the back by Spurs.

After a good break by the Spurs midfield, Son crossed from the left and Solanke met the ball but bundled it just wide. Salah hit a shot wide after exchanging passes with Gakpo.

A Kulusevski cross from the left was snatched by Alisson. Kinsky nearly lost his balance when tackling a swerving shot but held the ball. Djed Spence was demonstrating good close control in his own half.

Quansah needed treatment and he was replaced by Japanese midfielder Endo, which seemed surprising bearing in mind Konate was on the bench. Liverpool had a free kick taken from the left by Tsimikas and headed goalward by Mac Allister. Kinsky held comfortably. Both Bergvall and Johnson offered strong tackles on the right side of midfield. Liverpool won another free kick about 28 yards out, also taken by Tsimikas, but the Spurs defence cleared comfortably.

There were 11 minutes of first-half added time. Bergvall passed to Johnsson, whose shot was blocked. That swerving shot for Kinsky was hit by Gakpo, who missed the target with another effort. A Bergvall header from Spence's ball was cosy of Alisson. Neither keeper had been sorely tested, and Liverpool were a bit below par, but it had been an entertaining half.

At the interval 80-year-old Phil Beal was interviewed by Paul Coyte.

Liverpool kicked off the second half and Gakpo just failed to make contact with a Salah cross. Great running by Bergvall closed down Alisson who lost the ball which ran too Pedro Porro, whose first effort was blocked by Van Dijk before a second attempt passed wide when the goal beckoned.

Referee Stuart Attwell seemed to be letting a lot of Liverpool rough stuff go and after no foul was called on Solanke, Kinsky was under pressure from Salah's floated effort. Kinsky managed to pat the ball forward from under his bar before holding at the second attempt.

On the hour Arne Slot made a triple substitution bringing on the big guns of Nunez, Alexander-Arnold, and Diaz. In no time, Diaz crossed; Nunez headed goalward and Kinsky held.

Bergvall got his yellow card for a sliding tackle near the half-way line as Diaz sought to break forward.

Archie Gray showed great composure, control and skill in bringing the ball out of defence before passing to Kulusevski who advanced down the right side, but did not do so well with his attempted cross.

Kinsky was positioned very well to firmly save a shot by Nunez. Alexander-Arnold had a powerful shot cleared off the line by Dragusin, who then blocked Salah's attempted follow-up. Dragusin does not have the pace of a Van de Ven (who does?) but he too deserves a lot of credit for some sterling performances. He has played more minutes and had more starts (20) than any of our other centre-backs. Radu hasn't missed a game since Crystal Palace in October.

Someone behind me was urging Postecoglou to get some fresh legs on, but there wasn't much available on the bench. Mikey Moore was present, but it was Timo Werner who replaced Son on the left wing. After receiving a good ball from Gray, Timo raced forward and reached the area but hit the side netting with his shot.

Spurs thought they had taken the lead in the 76th minute when Solanke raced onto a good ball by Pedro Porro to "score" with his right foot against his former team. After a lengthy pause, VAR (being used for the first time in this competition in the semi-finals) decreed that Solanke had been marginally offside. Mr. Attwell made history by announcing this live to the stadium, but it was not exactly an astounding message.

Konate replaced Mac Allister. Bergvall got away with another heavy challenge (on Tsimikas) just inside our half as Liverpool broke forward and Kinsky held a shot by Gravenberch before Spurs did score a legitimate goal. My impression was that Mr. Attwell had seen the challenge but waved play-on to give Liverpool the advantage. Kinsky fed the ball to Pedro Porro, who hit it long for Solanke who out-muscled Konate before cutting the ball back to Bergvall, who had made another fine run. Bergvall scored with a fine finish just inside Alisson's left post. Liverpool were incensed (Tsimikas was still off the field after treatment)and someone on their bench was shown a yellow card. Spurs players, bench and crowd celebrated with unmitigated glee!

In the seven minutes of added time, Kinsky made his best save of the game, diving to save a Nunez header from Diaz's pass. Liverpool also had a couple of penalty claims turned down.

The second leg will be challenging, but we travel with genuine hope of reaching our tenth League Cup final. This was a great night and a much better result than I anticipated. COME ON YOU SPURS!

Incidentally, this may be the first time we have started four different goalkeepers during a season. Four were used under Harry Redknapp in both the 2008-9 and 2009-10 seasons, but on both occasions, one of those appearances was as a substitute. This might also be the first time we have used three different starting keepers in consecutive games. Thanks to Declan Mulcahy for this information.

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