It was the best of Tottenham, it was the worst of Tottenham — and Ange Postcoglou’s side is somehow, despite their own very best efforts, through to the semifinals of the League Cup after beating Manchester United 4-3 in a breathless thriller in north London on Thursday.
MORE - League Cup semifinal draw | Arsenal 3-2 Crystal Palace | Southampton 1-2 Liverpool
Tottenham were 3-0 up after 54 minutes, with Dominic Solanke scoring in both halves and Dejan Kulusevski joining him on the scoresheet right after halftime, but two massive errors by Fraser Forster not only let Manchester United back into the game but shattered Spurs’ confidence in the final 30 minutes.
Son Heung-min curled an Olimpico home to put Spurs 4-2 in the 88th minute, but Jonny Evans headed home a corner kick in stoppage time set up a grandstand finish. There were two (maybe three) games’ worth of major events in this one, which is pretty standard for Spurs in the Postecoglou era.
Ange Postecoglou reaction - First mistake “affected Forster … second one came as a result of that”
“We made it harder than it should have been, we were well in control, played really well, we looked like we were going to manage the game and then two unfortunate moments, the first one affected Fraser and then the second one came as a result of that. But we showed character and scored a fourth.”
…
“We’ve got so many absences at the moment, center halves, kids on the bench. If we get through this period, we’re going to get enormous growth out of it. I really liked how we played tonight, obviously those moments tainted it a bit and that has happened this season before and it doesn’t help our consistency, but the mentality of the boys… I love it.”
Injuries, fixtures piling up for tired Tottenham
Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising to see Tottenham run out of gas late on, as they had just 3 of 9 senior players on the bench and Postecoglou only felt he could make two changes, while Ruben Amorim used all five of his subs by the 72nd minute. Of the four defenders currently out injured, only Destiny Udogie is expected back for any of the upcoming Festive Fixtures, as Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Ben Davies are all likely out until after the new year. Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario (fractured ankle) won’t be back until late February at the earliest, which begs the question: Can Tottenham afford to not sign a short-term replacement as soon as the January transfer window opens?
Player ratings - Tottenham vs Manchester United
What’s next?
- Manchester United vs Bournemouth — Sunday (9 am ET)
- Tottenham vs Liverpool — Sunday (11:30 am ET)
Tottenham vs Manchester United live updates - by Andy Edwards
Tottenham vs Manchester United final score: 4-3
Goalscorers: Dominic Solanke (15', 54'), Dejan Kulusevski (46'), Joshua Zirkzee (63'), Amad Diallo (70'), Son Heung-min (88'), Jonny Evans (90'+4')
GOAL! Tottenham 4-3 Man United: Jonny Evans heads home to set up a grandstand finish (90'+4)
Oh, you thought we were finished here? Ha.
OLIMPICO! Tottenham 4-2 Man United: Son beats Bayindir with a high curler (88')
As we noted earlier, there is no video review in the League Cup until the semifinal round, and that will not sit well with United tonight after Lucas Bergvall perhaps prevented goalkeeper Altay Bayindir from lifting his left arm to catch the ball. It would have been a soft call to rule out a goal via VAR, but not a complete shock to see it called. Regardless, what an incredible second half this has been.
No VAR in the Carabao Cup until the semifinals 👀 pic.twitter.com/2pyazDLxJ0
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 19, 2024
GOAL! Tottenham 3-2 Man United: Forster plays the ball off Diallo and into the net (70')
A HUGE mistake from Fraser Forster gifts Manchester United their second goal 😳 pic.twitter.com/jC1OIGGStD
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 19, 2024
Someone at Tottenham has decided (for three straight seasons now) that Fraser Forster is good enough to be the club’s primary backup goalkeeper. That is simply not true.
GOAL! Tottenham 3-1 Man United: Playing out of the back goes very, very wrong (63')
Joshua Zirkzee capitalizes on a defensive error from Spurs to get one back for the Red Devils 🔴 pic.twitter.com/GBAJGMdACV
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 19, 2024
Seconds after making a fantastic save on Joshua Zirkzee’s header, Fraser Forster plays the ball straight to Bruno Fernandes along the end line.
GOAL! Tottenham 3-0 Man United: Solanke twists Martinez every which way to bag his brace (54')
Dominic Solanke makes a brilliant run and bags his brace 💥 pic.twitter.com/XF90TZV9p3
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 19, 2024
Spurs have absolutely blown United away to start the second half. Despite being terribly shorthanded due to injuries (just 3 of 9 senior players on the bench), Ange Postecoglou’s side has flown out of the starting blocks and put the game to bed with their tempo and intensity, as expected. UPDATE: The game has climbed out of its crib and is currently throwing its toys everywhere.
GOAL! Tottenham 2-0 Man United: Kulusevski makes it 4 goals in 4 games (46')
Right after the restart, Spurs went back on the front foot and United’s back half was hardly ready to go. Jonny Evans came off the bench to replace the injured Victor Lindelof just before halftime.
HALFTIME! Tottenham lead at the break, thanks to Dominic Solanke’s goal
Spurs might feel they should be 2-0 up by this point after Dejan Kulusevski wriggled free in the box to set up a one-on-one chance but his it right at Altay Bayindir at the near post rather than tucking it away at the far. Not much to speak of for United going forward — it has mostly been speculative shots into traffic from the edge of the box thus far.
GOAL! Tottenham 1-0 Man United: Solanke pounces on Porro’s rebound after Bayindir’s save (15')
Dominic Solanke gets Spurs off to a flying start against Manchester United ⚡ pic.twitter.com/gfDfc5tezt
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 19, 2024
Solanke was narrowly onside and the assistant referee kept his flag down with no video review available tonight. Good call, line-o.
Scoreless after 10 minutes, but plenty of back-and-forth
This is more adventurous from United (compared to the derby at the weekend) as Christian Eriksen sprays a couple passes in behind Tottenham’s defense and Spurs look to press United’s backline and midfield high up the field. Plenty of space for both sides to play in, if they can beat the initial pressure.
No VAR tonight, not until the League Cup semifinals
Back to the Stone Age we go.
TEAM NEWS! Marcus Rashford left out of Manchester United team again
After being dropped alongside Alejandro Garnacho (back in the squad) for the Manchester derby on Sunday, Marcus Rashford has once again been left out by new manager Ruben Amorim. Full lineups for the two teams below…
Marcus Rashford not with the #mufc squad arriving at Tottenham pic.twitter.com/AFvYEMpCsT
— Mark Critchley (@mjcritchley) December 19, 2024
Tottenham starting lineup
Forster - Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Spence - Bissouma, Sarr, Maddison - Kulusevski, Son, Solanke
Manchester United starting lineup
Bayindir - Yoro, Lindelof, Martinez - Mazraoui, Ugarte, Eriksen, Dalot - Antony, Fernandes, Hojlund
Tottenham sit 10th in the PL table with Ange Postecoglou three games shy of a season and a half on the job, and some Spurs fans are starting to lose patience for another manager they believe has over-promised and under-delivered. Nearly 16 years on from the club’s last trophy, Postecoglou can buy himself loads more time if he were to end the drought and lift a piece of silverware at Wembley Stadium on March 16. Tottenham’s confidence will be sky-high (relatively speaking) after beating last-place Southampton at the weekend and snapping a three-game winless run in league play.
Manchester United have, of course, won a handful of trophies since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure over a decade ago now (if you can believe it’s been that long), but the Red Devils have been nowhere near the consistent power they were (5 trophies in 11.5 seasons, compared to 6 PL titles alone in the 12 seasons prior). Now under the leadership of Ruben Amorim and fresh off a derby comeback for the ages over the weekend, six points is all that stands between them and the top-4. Derby, League Cup quarterfinal, Festive Fixtures — a fantastic time to build some momentum.
Tottenham team news, focus
Spurs’ injury crisis somehow got worse this week, as Destiny Udogie lasted just 28 minutes before coming off against Southampton (more precautionary than anything, according to Postecoglou) and captain Son Heung-min was subbed off at halftime after picking up a knock in the first half. Son has since been deemed fit to face United.
OUT: Micky van de Ven (hamstring), Cristian Romero (quad), Guglielmo Vicario (fractured ankle - MORE), Richarlison (thigh), Rodrigo Bentancur (suspension - MORE), Wilson Odobert (thigh), Ben Davies (thigh) | QUESTIONABLE: Destiny Udogie (thigh)
Manchester United team news, focus
OUT: Mason Mount (undisclosed), Luke Shaw (foot) | QUESTIONABLE: Noussair Mazraoui (knock)
Tottenham vs Manchester United prediction
At this point, all Amorim wants is for United to play a low-tempo game with few chances for either side and the winner to be decided in one or two moments at the end, because they struggled mightily when Arsenal and Nottingham Forest upped the tempo on them. Spurs won’t let them get comfortable the way that City did, and I’m just not sure United can cope right now. Tottenham 2-1 Manchester United.
