Middlesbrough advance in FA Cup after extra time - report and reaction

Our FA Cup campaign came to end at the Riverside Stadium as Middlesbrough scored the only goal of the game in extra time to book their place in the quarter-finals on Tuesday evening.

A strike from 19-year-old Josh Coburn in the 107th minute was the deciding moment and Boro, eighth in the Championship, held on in the closing stages to knock us out.

There wasn’t a single shot on target in the first half although that didn’t really tell the full story as it was quite an entertaining contest but defences were on top and neither side could find a way through. The best chance came our way when Matt Doherty beat Boro goalkeeper Joe Lumley to a ball some 40 yards from goal but then sent his effort way over the crossbar.

It wasn’t until the 58th minute that the game saw its first shot on target, Eric Dier’s free-kick well saved by Lumley while Harry Kane had the ball in the net from the resulting corner but it was ruled out for offside.

Boro had a glorious chance to win it late in normal time, Isaiah Jones forcing Hugo Lloris into a smart save low down, while Heung-Min Son should have done better with his header in stoppage time but it was straight at Lumley.

The winner came two minutes into the second period, Matt Crooks sliding a pass through to Coburn who slammed an angled drive past Lloris. We almost grabbed a late, late equaliser when Dier’s glancing header flicked off Crooks but Lumley was down quickly to deny us and with it went our last chance of saving the tie.

Disappointment down by the Riverside

We went into the game with confidence high following the 4-0 thrashing of Leeds on Saturday, but it all came crashing down again by the final whistle as we suffered another disappointing defeat, this one ending our hopes of lifting the FA Cup this season.

The game had a good tempo about it and we settled into the contest quickly, enjoying some decent possession in the early stages without creating anything of any real note. As the first half went on though, the home side grew in confidence and were seeing much more of the ball but again, had very little in the way of goalscoring chances to show for it.

The one big chance of the half came on 39 minutes. Dejan Kulusevski flicked the ball down the right for Doherty and he got to it ahead of Lumley who came 40 yards off his line to clear, but Doherty attempted a first-time effort at goal which went well over the bar. The wing-back did have another sight of goal just before the break, but pulled his 20-yard shot wide.

Ten minutes into the second half, it was the home side with a golden opportunity to break the deadlock when Jonny Howson floated a corner into the box and Crooks rose unchallenged but headed over from eight yards out. Dier’s fine free-kick had Lumley diving to his left to push it away for a corner at the other end and from the set-piece, Kane slotted home from close range but the flag immediately went up for offside and it remained goalless.

Substitute Folarin Balogun fired over from just inside the area after a quick break from Boro and play quickly switched to the other when it opened up for another sub, Steven Bergwijn, but his close-range effort was blocked by Paddy McNair. Dier then glanced Son’s corner just over but Boro had a wonderful opportunity to snatch the win when Marcus Tavernier burst through midfield and laid it off to Jones but Lloris got down low to deny him and from the corner, Howson headed wide when unmarked. Back we came though, Kulusevski getting down the right and sending over a cross which found Son, but his header was gathered comfortably by Lumley, the last chance of the 90 minutes.

Less than 30 seconds into extra time, Kulusevski drilled a low shot just wide and that set the tone for the half hour, as the game completely opened up. We started to look a little tired though and Boro enjoyed some good pressure, almost taking the lead when Jones’ cross found Tavernier at the back post but his shot was superbly kept out by Lloris. The final act of the first period of extra time saw Son’s back flick almost squeeze past Lumley.

The deadlock was finally broken, unfortunately though for the home side as Coburn smashed past Lloris while we almost had an immediate response when Son got away down the left but Lumley saved his shot with his legs.

One final chance came our way when the Boro goalkeeper made a great reaction save to keep out the Crooks deflection from Dier’s header and they could have added a second moments later, Coburn just failing to get on the end of Balogun’s shot. But there was no change to the scoreline which meant we exited the competition in the fifth round for the third year running.

In team news, Antonio Conte stuck with the team that toppled Leeds on Saturday as Ryan Sessegnon made his fifth start on the trot in all competitions. The only change to the 20-man squad from Elland Road was the return of Pierluigi Gollini on the bench in place of Brandon Austin.

Reaction on Spurs TV

'We had the chances, but we didn’t take them'

Antonio said after the match: "When you play this type of game, you have to be very good from the start. We had the chances, but we didn’t take them. You know better than me that in this type of competition, this trophy, it’s not easy to play away, this time against a team in the Championship, Middlesbrough.

"We gave them the confidence to grow into the game and to try to win. It’s a pity because we had the chances to score and to kill the game."

Match data

Goals: Middlesbrough – Coburn 107.

Yellow cards: Middlesbrough – McNair; Spurs - Romero.

Referee: Darren England.

Venue: Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough.

Weather: Clear sky, light winds, three degrees.

Attendance: 31,135.