Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
LATE FINISHES BALE OUT JOSE
Ndombele’s final flourish kills off battling Wycombe
IT FINISHED in heartbreak for Wycombe but Tottenham needed all the big guns to book a fifth-round tie against Everton.
Harry Winks and Tanguy Ndombele scored within the space of a minute in the dying stages when Wycombe looked as if they were going to force extra time.
And Ndombele added his second in injury time.
Incredibly, Tottenham finished the game with Gareth Bale, Harry Kane and Heungmin Son up front and that was ultimately what it took to see off plucky Wycombe.
It should have been a complete mismatch with Wycombe stranded at the foot of the Championship and having had their season disrupted by a Covid outbreak.
There was Wycombe boss
Gareth Ainsworth, dressed in leather jacket on the touchline trying to look like a rock star up against a managerial great in Jose Mourinho.
Early on, it looked as if Tottenham would run away with it with their extra Premier League quality and power as they threatened to tear through Wycombe’s defence.
Erik Lamela had a shot blocked by Josh Knight, Bale headed wide from Lucas Moura’s corner and it was all one-way traffic. But then, suddenly, Wycombe woke up and made a real game of it.
Admiral Muskwe’s near-post header forced a super save from Tottenham’s stand-in keeper Joe Hart and that served as an early warning.
Wycombe then did the unthinkable after 25 minutes. Uche Ikpeazu bullied Toby Alderweireld, turned the Spurs defender and laid it off for Fred Onyedinma who smashed it home from inside the box. No one inside Adams Park could quite believe it.
Not having fans inside stadiums is heartbreaking on nights like these. But that buzz, the thrill of an upset or a cup shock never, ever loses its drama – the tension and excitement of what might happen. It shook Tottenham into life. Moussa Sissoko’s shot was deflected off substitute Darius Charles and it hit the post.
For all of Spurs’ pressure, Carlos Vinicius managed their first shot on target after 40 minutes but it was easily saved.
But you felt the equaliser was coming. Winks’ cross set up Japhet Tanganga but he headed against the crossbar after 45 minutes. Three minutes later in first-half stoppage-time,
Bale got Spurs level. Moura played a good ball into the box, Bale got ahead of Knight and swept the ball past Wycombe keeper Ryan Allsop.
Mourinho threw on Pierreemile Hojbjerg at half-time to beef up his midfield and then sent on Kane for Vinicius after 58 minutes which must have been Wycombe’s worst nightmare.
Son and Ndombele followed as Tottenham turned up the pressure but Allsop denied Kane before Wycombe played their own trump card as veteran Adebayo Akinfenwa came on along with Scott Kashket to try and win it.
Son missed a sitter, Wycombe kept trying but, slowly, Tottenham pushed them further back in search of a winner.
The pressure told as Kane was denied by Allsop as Wycombe held on heroically but the ball only came out to Winks (left) and he curled a brilliant 20-yard shot to finally put Spurs ahead after 86 minutes.
Then Ndombele scored from close range after fine work by Son. He added another after driving into the box, dragging the ball back through his legs and firing into the bottom corner.