And breath. It may not have been simple, but Tottenham advance to its semi-finals League Cup.
By Andze Postecoglou The goal of winning a trophy in his second season with the Lilywhites remains a distinct possibility after his side escaped their quarter-final clash with Manchester United 4-3 winners last night.
However, considering the North Londoners were 3-0 up midway through the second half, it would be fair to say they made more than a meal, especially Fraser Forster.
Fortunately for the veteran and his manager, there were a number of players on the pitch who did their best to drag the team along, including one star player who is exactly the type of player United could have done with.
Fraser Forster’s match against Man United
Now, the first thing to say is that since coming on for the injured Guglielmo Vicario, Forster has generally been very good for Spurs, but his performance last night was simply baffling.
United’s first goal came from an incredibly sloppy pass that was intercepted by Bruno Fernandes and finished by Joshua Zirkze. Their second goal came from the man who cleared the ball and while the final goal wasn’t entirely his, his positioning was still suspect.
Predictably, the press watching were amazed, so much so that football.london’s Alasdair Gold awarded the six-cap Englishman a fully justified one Match rating 2/10 at full time and wrote that he “changed the momentum of a game that was only going one way at 3-0”.
It was the kind of display that would see a keeper go down for a long time.
However, with the injury situation at the club, Postecoglou will just have to hope Forster’s confidence can bounce back in time for the game against Liverpool on Saturday.
That said, as the team eventually won, there were many things for the Spurs faithful to be happy about, such as the performance of Dominic Solankewho saved his keeper and was just what United needed on the night.
Dominic Solanke’s match against United
Yes, while there were a few other players who put in a great performance, such as Dejan Kulusevski and Djed Spence, Spurs’ standout performer last night was undoubtedly Solanke.
The former Bournemouth star looked like a threat throughout his 90 minutes on the pitch and if it wasn’t for his two strikes, Forster would likely have been on the receiving end of a barrage of criticism from fans and pundits alike.
However, while his teammate’s rescue is undoubtedly a notable narrative from last night’s action, contrasting his performance with Rasmus Hojlund’s was another.
The Red Devils’ starting number nine, while talented, looked all overboard for most, if not all, of his 56 minutes of action and, as their stats show, fared worse than their opposition.
For example, the “monster” of the Lilywhites, as dubbed by reporter George Sessionsscored twice from two shots on goalhe completed 50% of his dribbles, was accurate on 100% of his long balls, won eight duels and made one clearance, one interception and four tackles to help out in defence.
|
Solanke vs Hojlund |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Solanke |
Statistics |
Hojlund |
|
2 |
Shots on target |
0 |
|
2 |
Goals |
0 |
|
2 (1) |
Dribbles (successful) |
3 (1) |
|
1 (1) |
Long Balls (Accurate) |
0 (0) |
|
12 (8) |
Duel (Win) |
5 (2) |
|
1 |
Clearances |
0 |
|
1 |
Wiretapping |
0 |
|
4 |
Tackling |
0 |
In contrast, the former Atalanta prospect failed to get a single shot on target, completed 33% of his dribbleswon just two duels, didn’t play a single long ball, was offside once and failed to do any defensive work.
In addition, the watching press had very different views of the couple as well, with Gold award 9/10 to Solanke match score, while the Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News awarded Hojlund a 5/10, writing that it “never went”.
In the end, last night’s game was an incredible spectacle with great performances and terrific performances all over the pitch, but it resulted in a semi-final for Spurs and a real chance for silverware in March, thanks in no small part to Solanke’s efforts up front. of the target.
