Penalty pain in the Carabao Cup

Colchester United took the honours from the penalty spot to knock us out of the Carabao Cup at the third round stage on Tuesday night.

We dominated the 90 minutes but couldn't find a way through the U's defence. Kyle Walker-Peters came closest when his cross-shot struck the inside of the post in the second half.

Just like they did in the second round at Palace, Colchester hung in there, kept the scoreline goalless and won the tie on penalties. Christian Eriksen saw his penalty saved, Lucas Moura hit the crossbar and Tom Lapslie converted the decisive spot-kick.

Development Squad members Japhet Tanganga and Troy Parrott made their debuts as Mauricio Pochettino made 10 changes to the team that started at Leicester on Saturday. There were first starts of the season for Eric Dier, captaining the side, Oliver Skipp and Victor Wanyama.

The pattern soon developed. Colchester were happy to sit in but tried to play rather than just clear long, looking for Courtney Senior's pace on the counter. It was one-way traffic though as Walker-Peters, Dele and Lucas all fired wide inside 20 minutes. Parrott tested Dean Gerken and the goalkeeper did particularly well to parry away Lucas' free-kick through the wall on the half-hour.

Parrott went close again at the start of the second half, initially seeing a shot deflect across goal and then angling Dier's cross just over. Walker-Peters was heavily involved down the right, struck the inside of the post, forced a save from Gerken and saw another cross deflected just wide, but the home goal remained intact.

Heung-Min Son and Christian Eriksen entered the fray on 66 minutes but were left frustrated in front of goal as well and our last three efforts from Erik Lamela, Lucas and Dier all went straight down Gerken's throat. At the other end, a couple of breaks had home fans out of their seats but came to nothing.

So to penalties. Eriksen was denied first up, advantage Colchester. Luke Norris, Dele, Frank Nouble and Lamela took it to 2-2 when Jevani Brown attempted a 'Panenka' dink down the middle that Paulo Gazzaniga was able to punch away. Son scored for 3-2 and hopes were raised, only to be dashed when Lucas rattled the crossbar. That handed Lapslie the chance to win it and he duly converted.

Key moment

Lucas Moura struck the crossbar with our fifth penalty just when you felt momentum in the shoot-out was edging our way following Paulo Gazzaniga's save from Jevani Brown. Lucas' miss gave Tom Lapslie to chance to win it and he grasped it with both hands.

Reaction on Spurs TV

Mauricio's view

“I’m very disappointed, like all the team,” said Mauricio after the shoot-out loss. “We feel bad because after 90 minutes, we couldn’t find a way through to score the one goal to beat them. It’s tough. I think the commitment and effort were very good. The effort was there but we didn’t have the capacity to break them down. They defended well. All I can say is that I’m disappointed.”

Match data

Carabao Cup, third round

Penalty shoot-out goals: Colchester - Norris, Nouble, Cowan-Hall, Lapslie; Spurs - Dele, Lamela, Son.

Yellow cards: Colchester - Prosser 29, Cowan-Hall 56.

Referee: Mr J Gillett.

Venue: JobServe Community Stadium.

Weather: Overcast, rain, 16 degrees at kick-off.

Attendance: 9,481.