- Tottenham travelled to second tier Coventry in Carabao Cup
- Lacklustre Spurs struggled to create meaningful chances
- Late equaliser and stoppage time strike won the tie in the end
Tottenham Hotspur needed two late goals to prevent an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Coventry City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
An impressive Coventry looked set to pull off a giant-killing thanks to Brandon Thomas-Asante’s second half strike. But Djed Spence finally got Spurs onto the scoresheet with a few minutes left to play, before Brennan Johnson’s calm finish in stoppage time sealed the comeback.
The Carabao Cup arguably represents Ange Postecoglou’s best chance of continuing his record of always winning a trophy in his second season at a club and pre-game focus was on the Spurs boss in the wake of pointing out that record following Sunday’s north London derby defeat.
Postecoglou made eight changes to his lineup for this one, with only Dominic Solanke, Rodrigo Bentancur and Destiny Udogie retained in a heavily rotated side that featured three teenagers and three other outfield starters aged 23 or younger.
How the game unfolded
Coventry, who took Manchester United to penalties in last season’s FA Cup semi-final, almost got off to a dream start after just 70 seconds. Spurs goalkeeper Fraser Forster was at fault with a loose pass but redeemed himself with an excellent diving save to Jack Rudoni from distance.
Wilson Odobert's 18th minute withdrawal through injury was among the very few notable moments of the first half as Coventry did well to contain their Premier League visitors and Spurs struggled to make their superior quality count, despite dominating possession.
By half-time, Tottenham hadn’t managed a single shot on goal, or even any off target. Following their early sight of goal, Coventry created a couple more openings late in the first half, with Rudoni lacking conviction meeting a cross at the far post and Norman Bassette firing just over.
From the left again, Bassette forced a low save from Forster in the early stages of the second half. But the Spurs goalkeeper was very nearly the villain of the piece when he came racing out of his penalty area for a long ball forward, colliding with Radu Dragusin and gifting Haji Wright an open net. Only Ben Davies coming from nowhere to throw his body in the way stopped a certain goal.
At the other end, Davies was finally the first Spurs player to test Coventry’s Ben Wilson with a free header from a corner that was very well tipped behind. But with Postecoglou sensing his team needed more and sending on Son Heung-min and James Maddison to provide it, the hosts almost immediately got the goal their play for an hour had deserved.
It was all too easy, Bassette racing away into space down the left and firing a low cross into the box that was clinically finished by Thomas-Asante. Davies lacked awareness and Spence flung a futile arm into the air, looking for an offside flag that was never going to come.
Dejan Kulusevski was Postecoglou’s final throw of the dice with 20 minutes to go, but again Coventry still looked likely to score and almost doubled their advantage when substitute Ephron Mason-Clark just failed to get enough on the ball to turn in a deflected shot at the far post.
Kulusevski was making a difference and Wilson’s second big save, an instinctive low stop with his left arm/knee, denied the Swedish winger an equaliser. But even with more concentrated Spurs pressure in the closing stages, the final ball was too often not good enough until Maddison and Kulusevski combined to play Spence in on goal. That alone was harsh on Coventry, but the misery was piled on the Championship side when Johnson dinked a 92nd minute finish over the onrushing Wilson.
Tottenham player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: Fraser Forster - 5/10 - Made a strong early save to compensate for his own mistake. Another much worse gaffe in the second half needed intervention from a teammate to spare his blushes.
RB: Archie Gray - 5/10 - Given no end of trouble by Bassette down that flank.
CB: Radu Dragusin - 6/10 - Had to make a crucial last-ditch sliding tackle not long after the break. Arguably guilty of some miscommunication with Forster but strong in the air overall.
CB: Ben Davies - 5/10 - A sliding block to deny Coventry's Wright was a huge moment, yet his positioning was poor when the hosts did take the lead soon after.
LB: Destiny Udogie - 7/10 - Tried to advance the ball more than his teammates and won all of his tackles. Surprisingly taken off after 45 minutes.
CM: Pape Matar Sarr - 5/10 - Minimal impact without the required quality to make a difference.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur - 5/10 - The senior midfielder who should have stamped his authority on the game. But too many passes, although accurate, went sideways or backwards. It was telling that when he did thread the needle it created the last gasp winner.
CM: Lucas Bergvall - 6/10 - Occasionally looked like his quality could shine through, but it was too much for an 18-year-old to do by himself.
RW: Wilson Odobert - N/A - What looked like a hamstring injury ended his night too early.
ST: Dominic Solanke - 4/10 - Completely starved of service in the first half. Ineffective as a result.
LW: Timo Werner - 4/10 - Didn't do anything worthwhile.
Substitutes
SUB: Brennan Johnson (18' for Odobert) - 6/10 - Really poor until popping up with the winner.
SUB: Djed Spence (46' for Udogie) - 6/10 - Kept his cool to equalise when it really mattered.
SUB: Son Heung-min (62' for Solanke) - 5/10 - The one sub who didn't really do much.
SUB: James Maddison (62' for Bergvall) - 6/10 - Involved in creating the crucial leveller.
SUB: Dejan Kulusevski (75' for Werner) - 7/10 - Completely changed things from the bench.
Subs not used: Guglielmo Vicario (GK), Pedro Porro, Sergio Reguilon, Mikey Moore.
Manager
Ange Postecoglou - 4/10 - Resisted making changes in midfield and up front after a poor first half, but relented after an hour when Son and Maddison emerged from the bench. Kulusevski was ultimately the difference maker in the final 20 minutes.
