Spurs Through to Quarter Finals Following Blustery Night in Burnley

Wednesday 27th October 2021

Match Report

Burnley 0 – 1 Tottenham Hotspur

Venue: Turf Moor, Burnley

Competition: EFL Carabao Cup Fourth Round

"Pre-Match Thoughts – With a fourth derby defeat of the season on Sunday, Nuno badly needs a win here. It would see Spurs through to the quarter finals and ease some of the mounting pressure on him.

I think he'll field close to what's considered our strongest 11, despite having Man Utd looming in the league at the weekend. You'd hope that the players will be up for it, it's a realistic chance of silverware for us this season. Burnley are always going to make it difficult for teams coming to Turf Moor, but we should have the quality to edge it 2-1."

It was a hybrid selection from Nuno as six of the second string squad that lost to Vitesse last week started – Gollini, Sánchez, Davies, Lo Celso, Gil and Bergwijn. The five 'big guns' he called upon were Royal, Romero, Højbjerg, Skipp and Kane. The likes of Son, Ndombele, and Moura, were brought along on the bench should further force be required.

Three minutes in and Spurs had their first sight of goal – Lo Celso slid through Kane, who took a touch into his stride and found himself on the edge of the area with an open shot at the Burnley keeper before him, it was noticeably on his weaker side however, as his left-footed shot banana-ed wildly wide off toward the corner flag.

Unfortunate for promising Spaniard Bryan Gil as he suffered what looked like a hamstring injury in the twenty-fifth minute, and was substituted for Lucas Moura.

It was a compact opening quarter of the game with neither side registering a meaningful effort on goal.

Approaching half time Spurs started pressing for a breakthrough. They didn't look comfortable in the final third however, and kept making sloppy mistakes in vital moments – First, Højbjerg found himself in a great position down the left side of the area and ran the ball out of play, then Moura made a threatening run, but went for the wrong pass when Kane was wide open, a corner then fell nicely for Kane in the box, but he scissor-kicked way over the top.

Despite the pressure, Spurs couldn't register a shot on target let alone put one in the back of the net, and it remained goalless at the break.

"Thoughts at Half-Time – It's been a pretty drab encounter so far with neither side showing much quality. Not a single attempt on target in the whole half. Spurs have had their moments but they've lacked composure in front of goal. Hopefully they come out re-energized in the second half with their scoring boots on."

The game followed the same pattern for the first twenty minutes of the second period, and nothing much happened.

A chance of note finally arrived in the sixty-fifth minute – Sánchez won the ball well on halfway and knocked it forward to Kane, he released Lo Celso to his right, in on goal, he took a touch then tried to put it past the outrushing Nick Pope with the outside of his left boot, but the goalkeeper did well to make himself big and save it with an outstretched left arm.

Nuno then made two changes with Skipp making way for Ndombele and Son coming on for Bergwijn.

Lifted since the Lo Celso chance, Spurs found a breakthrough on the sixty-eight minute – Having received the ball from Lo Celso, Emerson Royal whipped in a first time cross from the right wing, it took a slight deflection before finding Lucas Moura on the penalty spot, he headed it down powerfully into the ground and it bounced up to beat Nick Pope and find the back of the net. 1-0 Spurs.

Moura almost found a second less than ten minutes later – A vicious shot from the edge of the area that was saved by a strong Nick Pope glove down to his right.

It was a Sunday league style scrap for the last ten, as Burnley opted to launch long throws into the Spurs penalty area with the hope of bundling in an equaliser.

The crowd were in full voice behind them and Burnley were coming closer and closer to snatching a goal that would take it to penalties. Just then Sánchez did brilliantly to slide in and clear a cross to safety that had beaten Gollini.

Spurs turned to defence in numbers with two minutes to go, as Lo Celso was withdrawn for Joe Rodon.

Kane and co ran down the clock successfully, and the final whistle blew.

"Thoughts at Full-Time – So Spurs squeeze through to Saturday's quarter final draw. They deserved it in the end for the period of strong play they put in from the sixtieth to eightieth minute. Burnley pushed for an equaliser in the closing ten, but Spurs weathered the storm well and got the win. COYS!"

Tottenham Player Ratings

• 22. Pierluigi Gollini – 6 – Had next to nothing to do.

• 12. Emerson Royal – 8 – Provided a threat down his side, more like a right winger at times. Whipped in the cross for Moura's header and almost scored himself ten minutes later with a slaloming run and shot that was just too central. Promising performance from the new man.

• 4. Cristian Romero – 7 – Loves a scrap, strong in his challenges and dealt with the balls being flung into the box in the closing stages.

• 6. Davinson Sánchez – 7 – Pretty solid alongside Romero. Made an excellent interception with five minutes remaining as he slid in to clear a cross that had beaten Gollini.

• 33. Ben Davies – 6 – Not bad, not great. Clearly more defensive minded than Romero on the other side. Didn't get forward to support the attacking play as much as he could have. Did his defensive duties though.

• 5. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – 6 – Didn't look his usual assured self on the ball. A few sloppy touches here and there but did ok on the whole.

• 29. Oliver Skipp – 8 – Has swiftly become an integral part of the Spurs midfield. Makes a statement in his tackles, keeps things ticking over with his passing, and not afraid to carry the ball forward into space either.

• 11. Bryan Gil – 5 – Unfortunate that he only lasted twenty-five minutes before being forced off with what looked like a hamstring injury. Didn't have chance to make an impact. Hopefully not out for long as he's looked promising.

• 18. Giovani Lo Celso – 8 – Produced a few incisive passes, including a through ball to Kane in the opening minutes and the ball out wide to Royal in the lead up to the goal. Arguably should have got himself on the scoresheet having found himself one on one with the Burnley keeper. Couldn't provide the finish but forced a strong save.

• 23. Steven Bergwijn – 6 – Looked to be embarking on dangerous runs from time to time but none of them ever made an impact. Still lacking sharpness having been out injured.

• 10. Harry Kane – 6 – His wild left-footed shot early on seemed to set the tone for him tonight – Full of running but the ball seemed to constantly be getting stuck under his feet or just getting away from him. Improved in the second half and laid in Lo Celso with a nice through ball.

Substitutions:

• 11. Bryan Gil <-- 25' --> 27. Lucas Moura – 8 – Looked lively coming off the bench. Ran at the Burnley defence, scored a well taken header, and almost doubled his tally with a wicked shot from outside the area moments later.

• 29. Oliver Skipp <-- 66' --> 28. Tanguy Ndombele – 6 – Put in the running to help keep Burnley at bay till the end.

• 23. Steven Bergwijn <-- 66' --> 7. Son Heung-min – 6 – Spurs looked livelier after he came on. Helped see the game out in the closing stages.

• 18. Giovani Lo Celso <-- 89' --> 14. Joe Rodon – N/A – On late for an extra man at the back.

Man of the Match – 27. Lucas Moura