Plucky Port like Lams to the slaughter

ERIK Lamela scored his first goal in 17 months as Tottenham sauntered past Newport and into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Newport held Spurs to a 1-1 draw at home 10 days ago but the League Two side were outclassed at Wembley, where a Dan Butler own goal and Lamela’s closerange finish sealed a comfortable 2-0 victory.

Tottenham will face League One strugglers Rochdale for a place in the quarter-finals as Mauricio Pochettino’s men edged one step closer to ending the club’s 10-year wait for a trophy.

Undoubtedly, Newport’s best chance of an upset came on the bobbly pitch at Rodney Parade and from the moment Harry Kane equalised there with eight minutes to go, this tie was back in their opponents’ hands.

Spurs needed time to absorb Pochettino’s 10 changes as a loose pass from Foyth almost set Joss Labadie in on goal but Victor Wanyama traded a yellow card for scything down the midfielder.

Newport’s best opening came soon after when a deep Robbie Willmott cross found Amond at the back post but he jumped just too early and headed over.

It was little more than a halfchance but proved a costly miss as Tottenham broke the deadlock on 26 minutes. Llorente fed Moussa Sissoko out wide and his low cross was diverted in by Butler at the near post.

Newport’s belief seemed to evaporate instantly as Son Heung-min and the lively Lamela both unleashed shots at Joe Day, with the same pair then combin- ing for a second goal. Son scuttled in from the left and slipped in Lamela, who poked home for his first goal since September 2016.

The second half followed much the same pattern and the only blot on Tottenham’s night was that it failed to yield a much-needed goal for Llorente, who swiped a great chance wide when picked out by sub Christian Eriksen.

Dele Alli hit the crossbar when he came on, while Amond was denied a late consolation by Vorm.