LATE SHOW IS SEMI PRECIOUS
SPURS left it late to book their place in the Carabao Cup semifinals last night.
Ben Davies and Harry Kane struck in the last 20 minutes to kill off Championship Stoke, who had seen Jordan Thompson level Gareth Bale’s first-half opener.
Jose Mourinho’s men looked set for a routine evening when Bale deftly diverted Harry Winks’ cross into the bottom corner in the 22nd minute.
Spurs continued to dominate but failed to add to their lead before the break as keeper Andy Lonergan kept them at bay in his first outing since playing for Rochdale almost two years ago.
Spurs were shocked in the 53rd minute when Thompson hauled Michael O’Neill’s men back on level terms from their first attempt at goal.
Eric Dier missed a header and then an interception, allowing the hosts to break and Jacob Brown found Thompson at the far post to ram home his first goal for the club.
That changed the complexion of the game completely as Spurs found themselves doing the chasing and the frustration was beginning to mount.
But they regrouped to regain
STOKE.............. TOTTENHAM....
a grip on the game – and this time they made it count.
Davies’ first goal in over three years saw the Premier League side regain their lead in the 70th minute.
The ball fell to the left-back 25 yards out and he drilled a low shot into the bottom corner.
Spurs thought they had the game wrapped up when Kane robbed Danny Batth and played in sub Heung-min Son to coolly finish, but the linesman wrongly ruled him offside.
Kane took matters into his own hands to wrap up the win nine minutes from time when he lashed home his 16th goal of the season after Moussa Sissoko rolled him in on goal.
Boss Mourinho, who won the cup three times with Chelsea and once with Manchester United, said: “In the first half I don’t remember them having a single shot, not even a corner, because we were so dominant but we were not intense enough to kill the game.
“After they equalised the game was open. We had to react, and I believe the boys reacted in the best way.”