Alli’s inspired return sends Spurs through

It was some return to Milton Keynes for Dele Alli. Hitting the winning penalty in the shoot-out, the midfielder wheeled in triumph across the pitch he used to grace in a past life. Finishing off a perfect set of spot-kicks, Alli sent Spurs marching on in the Carabao Cup. To wherever it is their next tie might be held.

“Of course he was inspired by the occasion,” said his manager Mauricio Pochettino. “To play here he was so excited. We could feel the love the people feel for him. It was a fantastic night for him.” That might have been an apt description of how the evening finished. But not for how it began. Midway through the first half, perhaps to keep themselves from falling asleep, the Watford fans came up with a most appropriate taunt of their opponents: “You’re supposed to be at home”. Still it must have been good to see what a completed stadium looks like.

For the occasion, Pochettino had made Alli captain. Within five minutes the England man was belting the length of the pitch to earn a corner. It was a run which drew nostalgic applause from the MK Dons fans who, to add further to the evening’s oddness, were stationed in the top tier above the Watford contingent.

There was precious little else to cheer. A shot across goal by Lucas Moura was the sum of Tottenham’s first-half attacking efforts. Meanwhile, Watford, showing 10 changes from the side which had begun six Premier League matches in succession, spent much of the first 45 minutes in a get-to-know-you exercise.

Just 41 seconds into the second half, however, it all changed. Kiko Femenia wrestled the ball from Tottenham’s midfield and played a perfect pass into Isaac Success’s path. The Nigerian muscled his way past Serge Aurier before firing beyond Paulo Gazzaniga. Suddenly the tie woke up as Tottenham responded.

After an hour, worried by the manner in which Watford’s second string were controlling the midfield, Pochettino sent on the cavalry: Son Heung-min, Mousa Dembele then Fernando Llorente. But never mind the new arrivals, it was the old local favourite who finally found a way through. As he jinked his way into the Watford area, Alli was brought down by Christian Kabasele: just four minutes after the centre-back had been sent on by Javier Gracia he was sent off – much to the Watford manager’s bemusement. “It’s hard to accept first the penalty and after the red card,” said Gracia. Not that Alli was complaining: he picked himself up to score from the spot.

Then Tottenham appeared to have sealed the night with Erik Lamela’s shrewd finish from Dembele’s through pass. But Watford were not spent. Etienne Capoue, curled the ball, via a sizeable deflection off Ben Davies, into the Spurs net for a late equaliser to take the tie to penalties.

But that was where Watford’s resistance collapsed. While Tottenham’s four takers all hit the back of the net, Gazzaniga saved easily the efforts of Capoue and Domingos Quina, allowing Alli to seal his evening with the decider. Suddenly Spurs seemed very at home in this most unexpected location.

Tottenham Hotspur