British-Nigerian forward Dominic Solanke on Thursday scored a brace to secure a 4-3 win for Tottenham Hotspur against Manchester United in the quarter-finals of the English Football League (EFL) Cup.
Solanke opened the scoring in the 15th minute, with the 27-year-old reacting quickly to fire home a rebound after United’s second-choice goalkeeper, Altay Bayindir, parried the ball into his path.
Both sides had good chances in the first 45 minutes, with Spurs’ Dejan Kulusevski testing Bayindir from inside the area, but the Turkish shot-stopper was on hand to deny the Swede’s effort.
The hosts doubled their tally right after the second half restart with Kulusevski finally getting his name on the scoresheet after some abysmal defending by United. A cutback from James Maddison was thwarted by Lisandro Martinez, but his clearance fell to Kulusevski inside the box, and the former Juventus man finished emphatically.
Solanke made it three to Ange Postecoglou’s side in the 54th minute with a low strike into the bottom corner. The former Bournemouth forward beat the offside trap, latching onto a pass from Djed Spence before making his way into the box and finishing off with his second goal in the EFL Cup and his ninth in all competitions this season.
🤯 WHAT A GAME!#CarabaoCup | @SpursOfficial pic.twitter.com/to7DgQGHQX
— Carabao Cup (@Carabao_Cup) December 19, 2024
United coach Ruben Amorim was forced to make some changes with the Portuguese bringing on Amad Diallo, Joshua Zirkzee and Kobbie Mainoo in the 56th minute. The changes paid off as Zirkzee drew one back for United seven minutes later after an error from Spurs’ goalie Fraser Forster.
Diallo made it two for the Red Devils in the 70th minute thanks to another comical error from Forster, who was caught on the ball by the Ivorian. United kept piling the pressure on Spurs and almost levelled the scores, but Noussair Mazraoui’s left-footed strike failed to find the back of the net.
Spurs got on the scoresheet for the fourth time courtesy of a direct corner kick attempt from captain Son Heung-Min, with Bayindir alleging he was impeded by substitute Lucas Bergvall.
The game looked done and dusted, but another layer of drama ensued as a corner kick from Diallo found the head of Jonny Evans in the 94th minute.
The defeat was United’s third in eight games under Amorim, while Tottenham’s won their first home game in five matches across all competitions.
Tottenham, however, will play Liverpool in the semifinals at Wembley Stadium, while Arsenal, who secured a 3-2 comeback win against Crystal Palace on Wednesday, have been drawn against Newcastle United.
🏆🔥 Two mouthwatering #CarabaoCup Semi-Finals to look forward to!#EFL | #CarabaoCupdraw pic.twitter.com/jIOWedHbcl
— Carabao Cup (@Carabao_Cup) December 19, 2024
