Chance for Spurs to end trophy drought
LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur will play Manchester United or Manchester City in the League Cup final in April after it accounted for Championship side Brentford 20 yesterday.
Tottenham Hotspur is one game from ending a 13year trophy drought as it booked its place in the League Cup final with a 20 win over Championship side Brentford.
But Spurs will have to wait 110 days — until April 25 at Wembley Stadium — before they contest the final against either of the Manchester clubs. United hosts City in the other semifinal today.
Jose Mourinho’s exceptional managerial record in the League Cup continued as he reached his fifth final — promisingly for Tottenham he has won his previous four.
Moussa Sissoko’s firsthalf goal and a Son Heungmin strike after the break got the job done as the host ended a run of three successive domestic semifinal defeats.
Brentford had beaten four Premier League teams to reach its first major semifinal and things might have been different had Ivan Toney’s equaliser not been ruled out for a marginal offside as it ended the night with 10 men after Josh Da Silva’s red card.
Spurs took the lead in the 12th minute after they worked the ball out to the left and Sergio Reguilon, back in the side after his coronavirus rulebreaking indiscretion, delivered an inviting ball into Sissoko, who planted a header into the top corner.
It was the Frenchman’s first goal since December 2019 and came via his first ontarget effort of the season. Brentford thought they had drawn level just after the hour. The hosts failed to clear a corner and Toney headed home from close range only for VAR to rule him offside.
Tottenham made the most of the reprieve as it doubled the lead on 70 minutes.
PierreEmile Hojbjerg won the ball back, Kane fed Tanguy Ndombele who played in Son and the South Korean made no mistake with an emphatic finish for his 16th goal of the season. — AAP