Great Dane scares off Swans
Christian Eriksen’s double against Swansea helped Spurs into the FA Cup semi-finals. See match report on
Tottenham strolled into the semi-final, with Christian Eriksen’s brace ensuring a comfortable win over Swansea.
Eriksen capped a masterful midfield performance by scoring twice to take his personally tally against Swansea to an astonishing eight goals in 10 games, while Erik Lamela was also on target.
There was no Harry Kane or Dele Alli in Spurs’ XI – the former injured and the latter rested until granted a late cameo – as boss Mauricio Pochettino made seven changes from the side which had won at AFC Bournemouth last weekend.
But Spurs have a real shot at winning the first trophy of Pochettino’s four-year reign and their first since the 2008 League Cup.
They will also have the advantage, of course, of playing the rest of the competition at their temporary Wembley home, too.
Swansea had not graced the FA Cup quarter-finals for 54 years, but they went down with a real whimper and must now concentrate on the battle for survival.
Seven straight wins at the Liberty Stadium were soon forgotten, as Spurs established a real control on proceedings.
It was embarrassingly easy, though not entirely unpredictable, considering the fact Swansea had not beaten Spurs in 14 Premier League attempts and have to go back to 1991 for their last win over Tottenham.
The home side’s attacking flurry lasted as long as the morning’s snow shower, over in a matter of minutes after Michel Vorm had raced from his goal to prevent Nathan Dyer rounding him.
Tammy Abraham showed up well in those early moments, but the England youngster soon vanished almost without trace, as Spurs dominated possession and showed a predatory touch even without Kane.
Either side of Eriksen’s wonderful 11th-minute opener and Lamela’s terrific effort on the stroke of half-time, Spurs created chance after chance.
Eriksen thundered the crossbar, Lucas Moura missed from six yards and Eric Dier flashed a free header over the bar, while the Video Assistant Referee also denied Spurs, what they thought, was a legitimate goal.
The controversy came after 23 minutes when Heung-min Son went clean through and crashed the ball home off the underside of the crossbar, only to be denied by the assistant referee’s flag.
Spurs immediately appealed for the decision to be reviewed and, despite replays seemingly showing Son to be level, the original verdict was upheld. But such was the gulf between the sides, the disallowed goal was scarcely a factor in the result.
Tottenham took control after Eriksen’s brilliant-curled effort and, with Swansea so passive and the Dane seemingly at the centre of everything, Spurs enjoyed an extraordinary amount of possession.
The second seemed inevitable and that it took until injury time at the end of the first half was a surprise. But after Eriksen and Moura combined, Lamela danced past Tom Carroll and swept home a right-footed shot.
The contest might have changed if f Vorm had not brilliantly kept out Martin Olsson’s firm drive. But Spurs made them pay the price when Eriksen fired home a decisive third just past the hour. The final half-hour was played out amid an air of inevitability, with the two sides left to consider different priorities for the final months of the season.