Thanks to Declan Mulcahy for this report:-

Thursday 19 December 2024, 8:00pm
Carabao Cup Fifth Round
Tottenham Hotspur (1) 4 Manchester United (0) 3

Spurs scorers:-
Solanke, 15, 54
Kulusevski, 46
Son, 88

United scorers:-
Zirkzee, 63
Diallo, 70
Evans 90+4

Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1);
20 F Forster; 23 Pedro Porro, 6 R Dragusin , 14 A Gray, 24 D Spence (3 S Reguilon 90+1); 29 P Sarr, 8 Y Bissouma; 21 D Kulusevski, 10 J Maddison (15 L Bergvall 79), 7 H-M Son (c); 19 D Solanke (22 B Johnson 90)

Subs not used: 40 B Austin, 41 A Whiteman, 48 A Dorrington, 79 M Hardy, 64 C Olusesi, 42 W Lankshear

Booked: Sarr (23 foul on Fernandes 23), Maddison (78), Bergvall (90+8 foul)

Manchester United (3-4-2-1): Ruben Amorim
1 A Bayindir; 15 L Yoro, 2 V Lindelof (35 J Evans 45), 6 L Martinez; 3 N Mazraoui, 14 C Eriksen (37 K Mainoo 56), 25 M Ugarte (17 A Garnacho 70), 20 Diogo Dalot; 21 Antony (16 A Diallo 55), 8 B Fernandes (c); 9 R Hojlund (11 J Zirkzee 56)

Subs not used: 24 A Onana, 12 T Malacia, 5 H Maguire, 18 Casemiro, Booked: Mazraoui (25 foul on Spence), Bayindir (88 dissent), Fernandes (90+1 dissent)

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Attendance: 57,409

Referee: John Brooks, Assistant Referees: Simon Bennett, Dan Robathan, Fourth Official: Gavin Ward

Spurs go from the sublime to the ridiculous to redemption in a memorable cup tie

Nobody who saw this game will ever forget it. A classic cup-tie. It can be briefly summarised as follows.

An even first half saw Spurs go in at the interval with a 1-0 lead. Spurs dominated the first 15 minutes of the second half building up a 3-0 lead. Surely they were on the way to the semi-finals? But wait!

A totally inept eight minutes brought United back into contention at 3-2. They dominated the next 15 minutes but couldn't equalise. Spurs finally got the ball down the other end and unbelievably scored directly from a Sonny corner. Ten minutes were left including time added on. United scored in time added on. Would they or wouldn't they?

In the end Spurs prevailed 4-3. Only Spurs can transform a 3-0 lead into a nail-biting 4-3 win. Or as web site owner Paul Smith observed "Spurs almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory."

Both sides came into the game with some momentum. Spurs had won 5-0 at Southampton at the weekend all the goals coming in the first half. Manchester United playing away in the Manchester derby looked second best for much of the game but snatched a win in the last two minutes with two late goals. We saw elements of both here with Spurs running up an initial lead and United mounting a comeback. On this occasion it didn't see them home.

Ange Postecoglou made two changes from the team which thrashed Southampton. Pedro Porro returned with Djed Spence moving to left back to replace the injured Destiny Udogie. Yves Bissouma suspended on Sunday returned with Lucas Bergvall dropping to the bench. Timo Werner wasn't involved though it is not clear whether he was injured or omitted.

Ruben Amorim made five changes from the team which achieved the memorable derby win. Yoro and Lindelof replaced de Ligt and Maguire in the back three. Eriksen and Antony came in for the derby hero Diallo and the injured Mount. The Turkish goalkeeper Bayindir made an infrequent appearance instead of Onana. Marcus Rashford was omitted from the squad last Sunday and again tonight. In the previous two rounds both at Old Trafford United had scored a surprising twelve goals beating Barnsley 7-0 in the third round and Leicester City 5-2 in the next round.

The first half was a fairly even affair.

Bissouma and Sarr were quite effective in breaking up United's efforts going forward and creating counter attacks.

The only goal came after fifteen minutes from an unusual free kick routine by Spurs. Maddison played the ball to Son on the left. He in turn set up Porro in the centre just outside the box. Bayindir reached his shot but could only parry it. The ball rebounded to Solanke who scored with a shot off the right post. The goalkeeper should have done better with both efforts.

Spurs had a few other attempts. Son curled a shot wide. He set up Kulusevski but the goalkeeper saved his attempt. Porro tried a long range shot but it went wide.

Eriksen and Fernandes provided the creativity for United. Eriksen sent a free kick narrowly over the bar and just before the break Gray blocked a goal bound shot from him. Dragusin and Gray made important interventions at times.

Lindelof was replaced by Evans just before the break as a result of an injury.

United returned early after the interval and performed a drill in a circle with the ball. When the Spurs players came out they formed a circle with Porro in the centre who appeared to be giving an inspirational talk. There were no changes at the break.

Spurs made a great start to the second half. Solanke started the move to Son on the left who set up Maddison at the by-line. He unleashed a cross towards the goal. Martinez intercepted it. His clearance was poor. It fell to Kulusevski who was able to pass the ball into the net with his weaker right foot.

Eight minutes later Spence in his own half played a nice through pass towards Solanke on the left in the other half. The latter could have been offside but Martinez got his timing all wrong and played him onside. Solanke made a run into the United box and notwithstanding the presence of four United defenders scored a fine goal.

Amorim immediately made three changes with Mainoo, Diallo and Zirkzee replacing Eriksen, Antony and Hojlund. Eriksen departed to generous applause.

Spurs were the dominant team up to the hour mark and looked on course for the semi-finals.

Not for the first time this season things changed rapidly and United grasped a hold of the game. A Zirkzee header produced a diving save from Forster who had looked secure up to this point.

Then Spurs attempted to play the ball out from the back. Forster played the ball laterally to the left and quickly received a return pass. He was pressed and tried to play it to Dragusin on the right. His pass was intercepted by Fernandes who set up Zirkzee who easily scored from close range.

That goal produced a nervous reaction among the Spurs players. Soon after a United cross came into the Spurs box. Bissouma rose and narrowly headed it over. It was a close shave.

Then Spurs were awarded a free kick in their half. Bissouma took it and should have played it forward. Instead he passed it back to Gray on the edge of the box. He was pressed and passed it back to Forster. The latter was put under pressure by Diallo, caught in possession and Diallo forced the ball home.

Spurs had now conceded two horror goals in eight minutes and United were very much in the ascendancy and seeking to draw level. Mazraoui sent a diagonal shot wide.

Postecoglou replaced Maddison with Bergvall for his defensive capabilities.

Diallo unleashed a shot from outside the box. Forster didn't attempt to save it with his feet. He volleyed the ball back out. It was a brave move but could have gone wrong. Bissouma blocked another effort. Diallo was through but showed a heavy touch.

Spurs finally took the ball into the United half through the efforts of Spence and Son and forced a corner. Son took the corner and scored directly with a high curling shot. Bergvall jumped for the ball and got above the goalkeeper as it happened. The United goalkeeper appealed for a foul when the goal was scored. There was contact between the two players but it looked innocuous. Bayindir should have done better. There was no VAR and the referee was satisfied that there was nothing untoward. Bayindir and Fernandes were both booked for protesting about the goal.

Spurs had two minutes of normal time and six minutes of time added on to survive. Inevitably they conceded a goal from a header following a corner. It looked like it might have come off Bissouma but it was scored by the 35-year old Evans his first goal in his second spell with United.

Spurs held out for the remaining minutes for an exciting but nerve-wracking win. At least six of the goals came from errors two each from Bayindir, Martinez and Forster. Kulusevski and Solanke were outstanding for Spurs.

Forster will come in for criticism for the first two United goals. However if Bissouma hadn't sent the free kick backwards it needn't have happened so he bears considerable responsibility for the second goal.

Postecoglou has made it clear before, that when replacement players come into the team he doesn't adjust his tactics to suit the players but the players are expected to adjust to the tactics. Forster is an older goalkeeper who is a good shot stopper. He spent most of his career playing for teams which didn't require him to be good at playing the ball with his feet. It is clear that requiring the old dog to learn new tricks on the Premier League stage comes with risks. It won't be surprising if starting on Sunday when Spurs are playing out from the back that their opponents assign a player specifically to try and force Forster into errors.

Spurs reward for tonight's win is a two-legged semi-final meeting with Liverpool with the first leg at home. Sunday's meeting with Liverpool in the league will be a dress rehearsal for the first leg around eighteen days later.

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