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Tottenham Hotspur survived a furious Manchester United comeback to reach the Carabao Cup semi-finals with a 4-3 victory in a chaotic tie
Ange Postecoglou’s side were cruising against a lacklustre United with Dominic Solanke’s double and a goal for Dejan Kulusevski putting them 3-0 up after 54 minutes.
But the home crowd were left chewing their fingernails as two terrible mistakes by goalkeeper 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 deceived United keeper Altay Bayindir directly from a corner to seemingly seal it. Jonny Evans ensured a nervy finish by heading a third goal for the visitors in stoppage time but Spurs clung on.
The big news before kick-off was that Marcus Rashford wass not in the United squad just days after he gave an interview saying he is ready for a “new challenge” away from the club. Amorim dropped Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho from his squad to face Manchester City last weekend and although Garnacho appeared from the bench against Spurs, Rashford didn’t travel to London for the clash.
Relive all the Carabao Cup action with our live blog below:
Pinned
Self-inflicted drama reveals a Tottenham truth amid Manchester United chaos
As Son Heung-min wheeled away and the Tottenham fans on the South Stand bounced their way into the Carabao Cup semi-finals, it was fitting of this bonkers, breathless tie that the winning goal against Manchester United would come straight from a corner kick. A huge night for Ange Postecoglou, as Spurs moved a step closer to lifting their first trophy since 2008, came with palpable relief as Son’s corner made sure they rescued themselves from extraordinary embarrassment. Ruben Amorim’s side could not find another comeback.
Above all, though, this was a bad night for back-up goalkeepers. Altay Bayindir flapped as Son’s cross sailed over his head, the second goal he had been at fault for. He did not cover himself in glory on his first appearance under Amorim, and may still be appealing to referee John Brookes. Meanwhile, Fraser Forster’s efforts with the ball at his feet ensured another two goals of the seven at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium came down to goalkeeping mistakes. Lisandro Martinez contributed a couple more errors, with woeful defending.
Read Jamie Braidwood’s full report from a madcap quarter-final in north London:
Self-inflicted drama reveals a Tottenham truth amid Manchester United chaos
Tottenham Hotspur 4-3 Manchester United: Spurs recovered from Fraser Forster’s mistakes in a breathless tie as Ange Postecoglou’s side reached the semi-finals
Luke Baker19 December 2024 22:36
‘It’s one to look forward to’: Postecoglou on semi-final
Ange Postecoglou was delighted with his players after winning a highly entertaining Carabao Cup quater-final against Manchester United.
“I can’t speak highly enough of this group of players,” he said. “Again tonight we had 10 players from our list unavailable for one reason or another. We had a day’s rest less than Man United.
“We are not just getting through games, we are still maintaining our level of football. As I keep saying, we will get to some smoother waters at some point but this period is going to see us have enormous growth.
“We played so well, well in control of the game. It’s the way our season has gone a little bit, we self-inflicted some pain on ourselves and then we had to scramble to get a foothold again.
“It should have been a lot more comfortable than it ended up being but having said that, I still can’t get away from the fact this group of players is doing an unbelievable job at the moment to get us through this.
“We’re in a semi-final of a cup competition, so I think that’s something to reflect this progress for us and we’ve got an opportunity now, home and away to get to a final and we’ve earned that opportunity.
“It’s one to look forward to, but we’ve got important games starting this week, starting Sunday (against Liverpool), that we’ve still got to get through and the mentality the boys are showing at the moment, we’re going to tackle these games in the same way we’ve tackled the ones in recent times.”
Jamie Braidwood20 December 2024 09:31
Ruben Amorim says Marcus Rashford has a future at Man Utd
Ruben Amorim on Marcus Rashford after leaving the forward out of his squad for a second game in a row.
“Tomorrow we have training, he will be there preparing for next game. He is a United player, everyone has a future at Man United.”
Jamie Braidwood20 December 2024 08:31
Carabao Cup semi-final draw
So, here’s the full draw (all two games of it...), with the teams listed first having the home leg first. Remember, the semi-finals will be played over two legs across the week commencing 6 January and the week commencing 3 February. The winners will battle it out at Wembley Stadium in the final on 16 March.
Arsenal v Newcastle
Tottenham v Liverpool
Jamie Braidwood20 December 2024 07:32
‘He’s a big boy mate’
Ange Postecolgou on Fraser Forster, who provided unnecessary drama with two careless errors.
From 3-0 up, Tottenham inexplicably let United back into the quarter-final with their insistence on playing out from the back, despite Forster’s obvious lack of confidence with the ball at his feet.
First, a goal-kick was taken along the byline. Attempting to find Radu Dragusin, Forster was caught by Bruno Fernandes, allowing Joshua Zirkzee to tap in.
Still, Tottenham played backwards under no pressure. Forster delayed as Amad Diallo slid in, bundling United within sight with 20 minutes left to play.
“He is disappointed because he was outstanding for us,” Postecoglou said. “The first one probably affected his confidence a little bit and he lost a bit of belief and the second one compounded it, but he is a big boy mate and he is another one who has stood up for us big time in this period.”
Jamie Braidwood20 December 2024 06:31
Ruben Amorim defends Manchester United ‘control’ amid ‘chaos'
In his press conference, Ruben Amorim admitted that Manchester United “disconnected for eight minutes” in the second half but said that his team were better than Tottenham for most of the game.
“I didn’t feel like it was [chaotic],” he said after the 4-3 defeat. “The 8 minutes of the second half was like that because we were losing a lot of balls in transitions. But I thinl we were controlling things during almost all the game, playing the same way, trying to find the spaces. I can feel it.
“For the fans it was like that [chaotic] because there’s a lot of goals and one team is recovering from 3-0, but I saw a team that knows what what we what we want to do and so it was not chaotic in my opinion. I could not see the chaos in my team.”
Jamie Braidwood20 December 2024 05:39
Ruben Amorim will ‘never speak about referees’ despite Spurs goal
Ruben Amorim made a promise not to speak about referees despite Tottenham’s controversial fourth goal of their win against Manchester United.
Amorim suffered the third defeat of his United tenure but had no issue with Tottenham’s fourth, despite protestations from Altay Bayindir.
“I never speak about referee’s and I will not start now,” Amorim insisted. “I will try to maintain that for a long time.”
“The lads did a great job to recover and we were so near the draw, so near and it could make the difference because we still have time to win the game, but then the fourth goal was really hard for us.”
Jamie Braidwood20 December 2024 04:32
'We could have dealt with the game better’
Dominic Solanke said it was important for Tottenham to stick together and come back against Manchester United after Fraser Forster’s mistakes.
“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,” the two-goal striker to Sky.
“That’s football sometimes, we stick together. Mistakes are a part of football, we dug in, we showed spirit and got the job done.
“Scoring against a team like United is great but the most important thing is to win today and getting to the semi-final.”
Jamie Braidwood20 December 2024 03:31
‘Are you not entertained?’ Postecoglou praises Tottenham’s spirit
“I like the whole game. Are you not entertained? I know the studio is probably having a meltdown over my lack of tactics,” Postecoglou told Sky Sports.
“We’ve got so many absences at the moment, centre halves, kids on the bench. If we get through the period we’re going to get enormous growth out of it.
“I really liked how we played tonight, obviously those moments tainted it a bit and that has happened this season before and it doesn’t help our consistency, but the mentality of the boys... I love it.”
Jamie Braidwood20 December 2024 02:32
Ange Postecoglou hails injury-hit Tottenham after win over Man Utd
Ange Postecoglou saluted his injury-hit squad after Tottenham Hotspur avoided a late wobble to edge out Manchester United 4-3 in a rip-roaring Carabao Cup quarter-final tie.
Spurs were in cruise control when Dominic Solanke rifled home his second in the 54th minute to add to his first-half opener and Dejan Kulusevski’s effort 46 seconds into the second half.
Tottenham’s back-up goalkeeper Fraser Forster pressed the self-destruct button, though, as his two errors set up a nervy finale.
Ange Postecoglou hails injury-hit Tottenham after win over Man Utd
Spurs were without 10 players but held on despite a second-half collapse to set up a two-legged semi-final against Liverpool.
Jamie Braidwood20 December 2024 01:39