Did Tottenham Beat Man Utd for Semis?

Tottenham Hotspur resisted a fierce Manchester United fightback to cruise into the League Cup semi-finals with a 4-3 home win in an incredible tie littered with bizarre errors on Thursday. Ange Postecoglou’s side were cruising against a lacklustre United as Dominic Solanke’s double and a goal for Dejan Kulusevski had them three goals to the good after 54 minutes.

But the home crowd were left chewing their fingernails as two terrible mistakes by their keeper Fraser Forster allowed substitutes Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo to give United hope.

There were still 20 minutes left when Diallo made it 3-2 and United were close to equalising on several occasions before Son Heung-min appeared to have sealed it in odd fashion, deceiving United keeper Altay Bayindir directly from a corner.

There was still time for Jonny Evans to head a third for United in stoppage time but relieved Tottenham hung on to secure a two-legged semi-final against holders Liverpool. The other semi-final will be between Arsenal and Newcastle United.

Being 3-0 up we could have dealt with the game better, killed some time but we made it hard for ourselves, but the important thing is we won and we’re through,” Solanke said. That’s football, we stick together. Mistakes are a part of football, we dug in, we showed spirit and got the job done.

Postecoglou’s side let a 2-0 lead slip to lose 4-3 at home to Chelsea in their last home game and for a while it looked as through their innate ability to shoot themselves in the foot was coming back to bite them.

This time, however, the fans went home happy and Postecoglou a step closer to making good on his reputation of securing silverware in his second season at clubs and delivering a first cup for Spurs since winning the League Cup in 2008.

Injury?

Injury-stretched Spurs were bossing the game against a Ruben Amorim’s side showing five changes to the starting lineup which had stunned Manchester City on Sunday, but still had no place for want-away forward Marcus Rashford.

Solanke put the hosts in front after 15 minutes, with Bayindir fumbling a well-hit effort from Pedro Porro and allowing the striker to fire in the rebound off the post.

Bruno Fernandes had a couple of efforts and Rasmus Hojlund volleyed wide but Tottenham were comfortable and in cruise control straight after the interval when Lisandro Martinez could only turn a James Maddison cut-back into the path of Kulusevski who made no mistake.

The striker was then allowed to dribble across the area before sliding a shot inside the post in the 54th minute and the tie looked over as a contest. But Forster then played a casual pass out of his area and Fernandes intercepted and the ball reached Zirkzee to tap in. Forster then compounded that error by taking an age to make a routine clearance, and Diallo slid in to charge down his kick and diverted the ball into the net.

United surged forward, but Spurs looked a bundle of nerves-so long the nemesis of the side, but one that normally galvanizes under challenge-before captain Son restored parity when an inswinging corner sailed over the head of Bayindir to ripple the net. Substitute Evans’ riposte came too late to save United who will regret the way they started the tie.