Victory against United in seven-goal thriller

Dominic Solanke scored twice as we held off a Manchester United comeback to book our place in the Carabao Cup semi-finals in a breathless cup tie on Thursday evening.

Our centre-forward set us on the way with a smart finish after 15 minutes and after Dejan Kulusevski and Solanke had both netted in the opening 10 minutes of the second half, we looked like we were comfortably on our way to the last four.

This was cup football at its dramatic best though and United came storming back, substitutes Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo capitalising on goalkeeping errors to score twice in seven minutes to leave the game in the balance. The drama continued, Heung-Min Son scoring direct from a corner in the 87th minute before Jonny Evans headed home a corner deep into stoppage time to ensure it went right down to the wire, but we held out for a famous victory.

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was electric as the game got underway, both sets of supporters making for a great atmosphere and the match was played at a fierce tempo throughout. We took the lead with the game’s first real opportunity in the 15th minute. A short free-kick was worked to Pedro Porro 20 yards from goal, he took a touch and fizzed an effort forward which Altay Bayindir saved and, to be fair, pushed away from goal, but Solanke was onto it in a flash and drilled a low angled volley in off the near post. That was his fourth in four games against United, two for us and two for Bournemouth.

The visitors went close to an equaliser on 22 minutes, ex-Spur Christian Eriksen firing in an effort which Yves Bissouma blocked before sending a free-kick out on the left just over the crossbar, while United were then thankful to Bayindir for a good near-post save from Kulusevski after another short free-kick routine.

There was no let-up to the tempo, a really good game to watch and we almost doubled our lead on 33 minutes, Kulusevski nutmegging Victor Lindelof with a ball across the six yard box which Manuel Ugarte nearly turned into his own net and, at the other end, Bruno Fernandes and Rasmus Hojlund both fired well wide as we went into the break with a narrow advantage.

But that very quickly became a bigger advantage as we doubled our lead in the 46th minute. Son and James Maddison combined well down our left, the latter sent over a low cross which Lisandro Martinez diverted into the path of Kulusevski and he rammed the ball home. And two soon became three, this time with a beauty from Solanke. Played in with a perfect ball over the top by Djed Spence, he skipped past Martinez, drifted inside Evans and hit a low shot back across goal to beat Bayindir and nestle in the bottom corner.

United hit back though, shortly after Zirkzee had their first effort on target in the 62nd minute which Fraser Forster saved with a strong hand to his left. Just a minute later, Forster’s pass out to Radu Dragusin was intercepted by Fernandes and he squared for Zirkzee to tap home from close range. That lifted the visitors and they went close again when Amad’s effort took a slight deflection and just missed the post, however the United substitute had better luck moments later when he closed down Forster and blocked his attempted clearance with the ball cannoning into the net.

Momentum was very much with the Red Devils and when Amad fizzed in another drive from 25 yards, Forster made a save with an unconventional boot away, but it did the job. Then, when we needed a shift to turn the game back our way, up stepped Son with a bizarre goal. We won a corner to help relieve the pressure but there was no suggestion of taking it short, instead the skipper whipped in a deep curling cross which evaded Bayindir’s attempted punched clearance and ended up in the back of the net.
Back came United though, Evans glancing home a corner five minutes into stoppage time to keep the game at boiling point, however we saw out the final seconds and secured a place in the last four.

Match data

Goals: Spurs – Solanke 15, 54, Kulusevski 46, Son 87; Manchester United – Zirkzee 63, Amad 70, Evans 90+5.

Yellow cards: Spurs – Sarr, Maddison, Bergvall; United – Mazraoui, Fernandes, Bayindir.

Referee: John Brooks.

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Weather: Clear sky, gentle breeze, five degrees.

Attendance: 57,409.