EFL Cup quarter-final: What we learned from Spurs 4-3 Man Utd

Tom Hancock analyses the final quarter-final match in the EFL Cup.

Tottenham Hotspur 4-3 Manchester United

Ange Postecoglou’s post-match comments summed up this superb, chaotic EFL Cup quarter-final tie where both sides showcased the best and worst parts of their game.

Tottenham Hotspur led Manchester United 3-0 after 54 minutes, yet ended up hanging on as two errors from goalkeeper Fraser Forster allowed the Red Devils back into the contest.

Spurs scored another and eventually saw out a 4-3 success to seal their place in the last four.

“I liked the whole thing – are you not entertained?” Postecoglou said to Sky Sports.

“Come on, what do you want a scrambled 1-0? I’m sure the studio is going into meltdown about my lack of tactics but I love that we go out there and take it to our opposition even though we’ve got so many absences.

“I love football and love watching teams that go out there to entertain. Obviously we want to be successful and we won't be if we make things difficult like we did tonight.”

When asked about Forster, Postecoglou added: “It's part of football, mistakes will happen.

“You're asking for perfection in human beings and that doesn't exist. Sometimes they stuff up just like I do and you do.”

As for the match, Spurs, who made it three straight wins against Man Utd for the first time since 1990, benefited from mistakes for their first, second and fourth goals, as did the visitors for their first two, on a night defined by goalkeeping slip-ups.

Solanke's second goal v Man Utd

Altay Bayindir, replacing Andre Onana in one of five Man Utd changes from Sunday’s dramatic Premier League victory over Manchester City, presented Dominic Solanke with the chance to open the scoring by parrying a long-range shot from Pedro Porro straight out into the penalty area.

It came less than two weeks after Onana let Morgan Gibbs-White’s similar attempt go right through him in the Premier League defeat to Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford.

Though as Gary Neville said on his commentary, Bayindir was not helped by Man Utd’s “sleeping” defenders who were slow to react to the loose ball.

Lisandro Martinez’s limp clearance rather put it on a plate for Dejan Kulusevski to double Spurs’ lead, but Bayindir’s complaints about the goal that ultimately proved to be the winner fell on deaf ears.

The Turkish goalkeeper was not assertive enough in dealing with Son Heung-min's corner, which looped all the way in. Ruben Amorim, whose team host AFC Bournemouth in the league on Sunday, may have questions over his first and second-choice ‘keepers at this stage.

Son scores direct from a corner

Postecoglou, meanwhile, has to shoulder some of the responsibility for Forster’s pair of mistakes.

Forster, still deputising for the injured Guglielmo Vicario, twice lost possession while trying to play out from the back, something he evidently doesn’t excel at, letting Man Utd pull the score back to 3-2 through goals from Joshua Zirkzee and Amad.

It could have been another spectacular capitulation for Spurs, whose boss might want to reconsider his insistence that he’s "not interested in pragmatism", not least with leaders Liverpool up next in the Premier League on Sunday.

See: Spurs report | Man Utd report

The draw for the semi-finals of the EFL Cup is as follows:

Arsenal v Newcastle
Spurs v Liverpool

The first legs will be played in the week commencing 6 January 2025, with the second legs taking place in the week commencing 3 February.