LONDON — Tottenham survived a second-half comeback to book their place in the Carabao Cup semifinals with a dramatic 4-3 win over Manchester United on Thursday.
Dominic Solanke opened the scoring on 15 minutes through a smart finish in off the near post before two goals in eight minutes after the break from Dejan Kulusevski and Solanke again extended the home side’s advantage.
Man United boss Ruben Amorim responded by making a triple change as Joshua Zirkzee, Amad Diallo and Kobbie Mainoo were introduced. The former made an immediate impact as Spurs suddenly found a way to complicate what appeared to be an easy route to victory. Goalkeeper Fraser Forster played a square pass to Radu Dragusin, who was caught on his heels by Bruno Fernandes, and Zirkzee was left with a simple tap-in to open United’s scoring.
Things got worse for Forster seven minutes later as he dallied in possession and Amad tackled him with the ball flying into the empty net. A nervy spell followed as Forster looked unconvincing yet again, this time in repelling Amad’s long-range effort with his feet.
But it was his opposite number, Altay Bayindir, who would make the next costly mistake, flapping at Son Heung-min’s 88th-minute corner to allow the Spurs captain to restore their two-goal advantage.
Jonny Evans headed in United’s third from Amad’s corner in the fourth minute of added time, but Spurs held on to take a step closer to their first trophy since 2008 and ease some of the pressure on manager Ange Postecoglou.
Tottenham move closer to the trophy they crave
Postecoglou is sceptical of any suggestion that a trophy would be a panacea for the club’s ills.
“I always say that my ambition is to build a team and a club that has an opportunity for sustainable success,” he said Wednesday. “No, I don’t think winning a trophy will have done that but it will help the cause.
It can definitely help with the process but it isn’t the be-all and end-all if it doesn’t align with those factors. What are those factors? Is the team performing across all competitions, and how the squad is developing. Is it stable, is it consistent?”
This is not a Spurs team that feels particularly stable — the self-inflicted second-half chaos is evidence of that — but Postecoglou has entered into something of a battle of wills right now with some fans questioning whether his uncompromisingly attacking style is compatible with the demands of English football. And quite simply, fans here are desperate for some sort of trophy after 16 years of knocking on the door, moving to this phenomenal stadium and developing their training base.
They are not there yet but a two-legged semifinal beginning next month puts a positive entry into the diary to help offset any more immediate misgivings. — James Olley
Defensive weaknesses cost Man United
Amorim will want to focus on the comeback after going 3-0 down, but it was United’s own fault that they were in that position in the first place.
They were the better team for much of the first half, yet they went in at the break 1-0 down. United put no pressure on the ball when it was rolled to Pedro Porro and didn’t react when his shot came back off Bayindir.
The next two goals, which came in the first 10 minutes of the second half, were both down to Lisandro Martínez. The first came from a weak clearance, which was almost back-heeled into the path of Kulusevski. The second was even worse. Martinez played Solanke onside and was then beaten too easily when the Spurs striker cut in from the left.
United’s ferocious press — an Amorim trait — got them back in it with a helping hand from Forster but they left themselves too much to do. One of the problems Amorim has is that there aren’t enough goals in the squad he has inherited. He can’t afford for his team to concede such basic goals and hope to get a result. — Rob Dawson
Ownership protest continues despite Spurs win
The backdrop to Tottenham’s 5-0 league win at Southampton on Sunday was negative chanting towards chairman Daniel Levy and the club’s owners, ENIC — and so it proved once again here, even when Spurs were ahead through Solanke’s 15th-minute strike.
“I don’t care about Levy, he don’t care about me, all I care about is Kulusevski,” sang a sizeable contingent of the home support, who later resorted to the time-honoured staple: “We want Levy out.”
Much of the discontent centres on a belief the club is run for profit and not for on-field success, chiefly that Spurs are too conservative with transfers and wages ever to compete at the highest level. Those irritations dissipated in the second half as the madness of this game took over — firstly as Spurs raced clear and then did their best to throw away a 3-0 lead — but it is a reminder of the tightrope both Postecoglou and the board are walking during the busy festive period.
The mutinous feel, even on nights like this, is never far away. — Olley
Rashford gets a message from Man United fans
Marcus Rashford was left out of the squad again by Amorim, just two days after the forward suggested in an interview that he wants to leave Old Trafford.
The United head coach refused to divulge the reasons behind his omission before kickoff, saying only that it was his “selection.” It was telling, though, that Alejandro Garnacho was back in the squad against Spurs after also watching the Manchester City game at home like Rashford.
Rashford could come back in for Bournemouth’s visit to Old Trafford on Sunday, but he might not get the best reception from the United fans if he plays. A local boy who came through the academy, he has been a hero to most of them since breaking into the team as a teenager more than eight years ago. But they don’t take kindly to players who say they want to leave — particularly ones who are underperforming.
The fans who travelled to Tottenham let Rashford know. A banner unveiled in the away end before kick-off read: “Excuses. Ta Ra Marcus.”
It will be interesting to see what happens if Rashford’s name is on the team sheet against Bournemouth on Sunday. — Dawson
Calamity night for the goalkeepers
It was an entertaining night for the neutral, but the two goalkeepers probably don’t want to see a replay. Forster, in for injured Spurs No. 1 Guglielmo Vicario, had a nightmare and Bayindir, given a rare start ahead of United’s first-choice André Onana, didn’t fare much better at the other end.
Tottenham were cruising at 3-0 when Forster’s simple pass to Dragusin was cut out and Zirkzee scored. He then had an age to decide what to do with a back pass and inexplicably allowed Amad to charge the ball into the net. Forster looked so shaken that he looked nervous to pass the ball out and decided to clear another Amad shot with his feet instead of picking it up.
Bayindir was in goal for United because Amorim has decided to honour Erik ten Hag’s promise that he would start in the Carabao Cup. Now out of the competition, we might not see him for a while. His poor parry allowed Solanke to score Spurs’ first goal and his night ended miserably as Son Heung-min’s corner drifted over his head and into the net. He thought there was a foul and argued with referee John Brookes after the final whistle, but it was probably out of embarrassment more than anything else. — Dawson
