Wed 06 January 2021, 13:00
Tottenham HotspurApproaching seven years as a Spur, and six since he appeared in the 2015 League Cup Final aged 21, it’s no wonder Eric Dier told us ‘it means so much’ to reach this season’s Carabao Cup Final after beating Brentford in Tuesday night’s semi-final.
Having said that, it was very much a ‘job done’ attitude from the central defender after goals from Moussa Sissoko and Heung-Min Son saw us home 2-0 against the impressive Championship side at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
It’s an early birthday present for Eric, 27 later this month, and one he’ll now tuck away until we step out at Wembley on 25 April against either City or United - the Manchester teams play their semi-final at Old Trafford this evening.
“It means so much,” said Eric. “We said our objective was to win every game and to be competitive in every competition and we’ve done that, it’s the first opportunity to get to a final and we’ve done it, but it’s just the beginning.
“We’ve a lot more work to do, and the final is a long way away. It’s there, something we’ll all look forward to, but I don’t think it will be on our minds for quite a while because of the schedule and what’s ahead of us before that. We got the job done against a very good side, well organised, good players, so credit to them. It’s not surprising they got this far.”
Brentford were denied an equaliser via a VAR offside call but, generally, we were in control of the semi-final with more possession, more attempts and more attempts on target. David Raya denied Lucas and Harry Kane, the woodwork denied Tanguy Ndombele and Sonny fizzed another volley inches wide. At the other end, Hugo Lloris wasn’t seriously tested, Ivan Toney, always a threat, well marshalled by Eric and our defensive unit for a 10th clean sheet of the season so far.
“It felt very good,” added Eric. “I think to be in that kind of control take a lot of effort on the pitch and the right mentality to be on the front foot and aggressive. We played a very aggressive line and were dynamic in our pressing. To look comfortable you have to put the work in, and we did that tonight.
“It was a fantastic goal from Moussa, that gave us the platform and with recent results from that position, we really made sure we stayed on the front foot and kept creating chances. We got the second goal and that made things easier, and we continued to press and play well, even when they had 10 men. It’s great to be in the final.”
