Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United shared seven goals in their match Carabao Cup A quarter-final match on Thursday night, where goalkeeper errors ultimately decided the game.
Dominic Solanke scored a brace for Spurs either side of Dejan Kulusevski, which looked like it would be enough to send the home team comfortably off. But Fraser Forster gave United two goals to Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo, before the opposite number, Altay Binder, made a mistake in Tottenham's fourth goal, scored late by Son Heung-min.
Jonny Evans scored United's third goal in stoppage time, which was the ultimate consolation.
How the game unfolded
Neither team did much at all in the early stages, with attacks collapsing at both ends when it came to executing a pass or finishing move.
So when Tottenham took the lead after 15 minutes, it was the first real chance of the game. Solanke's goal began with a free kick for the hosts, which Son played wide and converted to Pedro Porro outside the penalty area. Bender's powerful shot was saved against United, while Solanke was on hand to grab the rebound from close range.
Binder was called into action again midway through the first half, dealing with a difficult shot from Kulusevski at the near post after the Spurs player cleared his marker. The Swedish winger continued to cause problems and a dangerous pass across the six-yard box was almost turned into his own net by Manuel Ugarte as he tried to cut it out.
By the end of the first half, United had failed to test Forster in the Spurs goal, sending a number of attempted efforts wide or frustrating with blocks.
Tottenham strengthened their advantage less than a minute after the start of the second half. The home side sent the ball wide to James Maddison, who cut in a low cross by Lisandro Martinez. But the clearance was very easy, straight to Kulusevski a few yards away and was too big a gift to refuse.
The third goal, less than ten minutes later, was easy for Tottenham. Solanke beat the offside trap, cut the ball inside without much resistance and fired a low shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area.
Forster's first significant action of the night came on the hour mark, as he made an excellent save down his left to deny Zirkzee, who arched his back to generate force on a header that bounced off the turf. But the goalkeeper went from hero to villain almost immediately, as he inexplicably passed the ball straight to Bruno Fernandes inside his own penalty area. Zirkzee's square ball means the Dutchman can make no mistakes.
The veteran goalkeeper quickly wanted the ground to swallow him up, while Imad reduced the gap further. He dwelt for a long time with the ball at his feet, drawing pressure from the United winger, who was able to block an attempted clearance and turn it straight into the net.
With the full momentum of coach Ruben Amorim's team, Noussair Mazraoui was close to equalizing when he passed the ball back, and missed wide of the far post. Forster was soon looking baffled when Imad shot the ball from distance, awkwardly hitting the ball wide with a swing of his right boot.
In the end, Spurs were able to regain breathing room when Son was able to exploit United's weakness in recent weeks: defending a corner kick. The team captain's perfect pass was high towards the far post, evading everyone before hitting the net. Bender was angry at being allowed to stand, claiming that Lukas Bergvall tripped him after contact between the pair during his jump. The goalkeeper can be seen saying: “He pushed my hand,” as he watched the replay on the stadium's big screen in disbelief.
Somehow, there was still more to come, as Evans halved the deficit again from a corner kick in the 94th minute. But it was too late to settle matters and Spurs were able to hold on.
Check how both groups of players perform in this group.
Mistakes and bad defending are what really make football fun
As Tottenham led 1-0, then 2-0, the red couldn't help but feel the goals could have been avoided.
The first didn't paint substitute goalkeeper Altay Binder or the defenders in front of him in a great light. The Turkish international should have made a better save as Pedro Porro's shot, which took a slight deflection, away from danger rather than out in front of him. Team-mates were not helped by being unpredictable and on their heels, compared to Dominic Solanke being alive for the second ball.
The second was a poor one from Lisandro Martinez. The centre-back was in the right place at the right time to parry the danger of James Maddison's low cross. But he caught his leg weakly in the ball and it went straight to the feet of Kulusevski, who gratefully slotted the ball home from the first time.
Martinez was responsible for the third too, sitting deeper than the rest of his backline, then being easily beaten when Solanke cut inside, raising his hand in the air when the ball hit the net as he was anticipating the offside flag all along. .
It should have been game over, but Fraser Forster was faced with an absolute nightmare. He was directly at fault for United's first two goals scored by Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo. The latter, which saw him close the ball a few yards from his own goal, prompted Gary Neville to say something during it Sky SportsComment: “This is one of the coolest things you will see at Tottenham.”
Bender then felt himself fouled when he took a late Son Hyung-min corner, which flew straight into the net and proved decisive indeed. But it was a weak effort on his part.
Bruno Fernandes' positioning caused all sorts of problems for Tottenham in the first half. The United captain was operating as an inside left striker, meaning opposing right-back Pedro Porro wasn't sure who he was supposed to be marking: Fernandes or left-back Diogo Dalot.
The result was that Fernandes, who had never been picked up by anyone else, got into dangerous situations time after time. In the second half, United's appearance changed with the substitutions, and it ended up being Tottenham's mistakes in possession that produced the goals.
Dominic Solanke has now scored five goals in his last four matches against Manchester United. It started last season when the former Chelsea and Liverpool striker scored on and off the pitch for Bournemouth, and has continued following his £65m summer move to Tottenham.
Solanke scored Tottenham's winning goal in the Premier League at Old Trafford earlier this season.
He took both goals really well. The first was a controlled finish that fooled Bender with his eyes and body shape, dropping the ball at the near post when it looked like he was going to shoot into the opposite corner. The second was similarly good, finding the bottom corner from 18 yards.
After doing his job at one end, he probably couldn't believe what he was seeing at the other.
It's been a rollercoaster few days for Marcus Rashford. Amid continuing doubts over his future at Old Trafford, he was not selected for the Manchester derby on Sunday, before being sent home from training due to illness the following day. He sets a record to announce his readiness for the “new challenge”.
The United striker was once again absent from Amorim's squad selected for this match, as he was not seen when the rest of the group traveled on Wednesday. But the head coach revealed before kick-off that his absence was still an “optional” option, and nothing else.
Ange Postecoglou has been under the microscope ever since He said that he always wins the title in his second season with the club. It's a statement of fact because that's what has happened throughout his coaching career so far, but given the way this season has gone, many expected it to come to an end.
Tottenham will not be favorites to lift the Carabao Cup as they bid for a first trophy since 2008 – that title goes to Liverpool and Arsenal. But at least having them in the mix gives them a chance.
Let's wait and see what happens.
