KING DELE HOMES IN ON GLORY

Fairy-tale return to MK for Spurs star as he holds nerve to see off Hornets

IT just had to be Dele Alli.

Captain for the night on his return to Milton Keynes, he scored the shootout penalty that Spurs into the last-16.

Paulo Gazzaniga had made up for an earlier gaffe by saving two spot-kicks from Watford’s Etienne Capoue and Domingos Quina.

This tie was moved to Alli’s old club with Wembley unavailable and Spurs’ new home still not ready.

He had to score twice from 12 yards to ensure it was a happy home coming. His first cancelled out Isaac Success’s opener before Erik Lamela gave Spurs an 86th-minute lead.

But a howler from Gazzaniga allowed Watford’s former Spurs midfielder Capoue to level, although it was Mauricio Pochettino’s men who progressed on penalties.

Stadium MK was decked out in Spurs branding to make the north Londoners feel a little more at home.

Alli was given a hero’s reception with his name and every touch cheered and terrace chant repeatedly belted out.

He looked determined and in the mood to give both the Spurs fans and the 1,000 or so locals in the stands the moment to mark his homecoming that they came for.

One early run was followed by him being inches away from getting on the end of Lucas’s teasing ball across goal to finish a move he had started.

At the other end, long-range efforts from Success and Marc Navarro, twice, kept Gazzaniga on his toes, while Serge Aurier’s brilliant last-ditch tackle denied Watford winger Ken Sema a certain goal.

But the first-half action was largely like the atmosphere created by the three sets of supporters – Spurs, Watford and MK Dons – surreal, subdued and more like a preseason friendly.

Many fans were returning to their seats when Success latched onto Kiko Femenia’s pass and smashed the opener past Gazzaniga 41 seconds after the restart.

Femenia threatened a second soon after, but going behind sparked Spurs and the crowd into life.

Pressure paid for Spurs when Christian Kabasele brought down Alli, earning the defender a red card just three minutes after he came on, and the Spurs skipper levelled from the spot.

Lamela looked to have won it with an impudent chip to cap a flying breakaway – only for Gazzaniga to somehow let Capoue’s skidding effort slip through his hands to send the tie to a shoot-out.

Dele Alli shows his delight at hitting the target on his homecoming to Stadium MK last night Success gives Watford hope but they were lost shoot-out