Tottenham Hotspur secured a dramatic 4-3 win over Manchester United to claim the final EFL Cup semi-final spot. The match, played at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, saw Dominic Solanke score twice, with Dejan Kulusevski and Son Heung-min also finding the net.
The match began quietly, with no attempts on goal in the first 10 minutes. However, Solanke broke the deadlock with a well-taken half-volley after Altay Bayındır’s weak parry from Pedro Porro’s long-range effort. The remainder of the first half was evenly contested, with Christian Eriksen impressing for Manchester United.
Tottenham began the second half strongly, with Kulusevski doubling their advantage after Lisandro Martínez’s poor clearance from James Maddison’s cross. Solanke then scored his second goal, drilling the ball low past Bayındır after racing onto a Djed Spence ball over the top of the Manchester United defense.
However, Tottenham’s comfortable lead was short-lived, as Fraser Forster’s goalkeeping errors gifted Manchester United two goals. Forster’s wayward pass allowed Bruno Fernandes to square the ball to Joshua Zirkzee, who tapped into an empty net. Forster then dallied on the ball, allowing Amad Diallo to capitalize and score Manchester United’s second goal.
Despite Manchester United’s resurgence, Son Heung-min looked to have sealed the win for Tottenham with a goal from a corner, which sailed over Bayındır and into the net. However, Jonny Evans’ late header from a corner ensured a nervy finish for Tottenham, who ultimately held on for the win.
The 4-3 victory sees Tottenham Hotspur advance to the EFL Cup semi-finals, where they will face one of the other qualified teams. Arsenal, Newcastle and Liverpool all won their quarterfinal fixtures on Wednesday and one of them will be Spurs’s semifinal opponents.
Tottenham forward Dominic Solanke was delighted with the win despite the mistakes.
“That’s football sometimes, we stick together. Mistakes are a part of football, we dug in, we showed spirit and got the job done. Scoring against a team like United is great but the most important thing is to win today and getting to the semi-final.” Solanke said.
