• Tottenham survive second half collapse to win Carabao Cup tie
  • Spurs led 3-0 before eventually claiming 4-3 victory over Man Utd
  • Both goalkeepers were guilty of costly errors in quarter-final

Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United shared seven goals between them in their Carabao Cup quarter-final tie on Thursday night, with goalkeeper errors ultimately defining the contest.

Dominic Solanke scored a Spurs brace either side of one from Dejan Kulusevski, which looked like it would be enough to send the home side comfortably through. But Fraser Forster gifted two United goals to Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo, before opposite number Altay Bayindir was at fault for the Spurs fourth scored by Son Heung-min late on.

Jonny Evans got the United third deep into stoppage time, ultimately consolation.

How the game unfolded

Neither team really did very much at all in the opening stages, with attacks at both ends ultimately breaking down when it came to executing the final pass or movement.

So when Spurs went ahead after 15 minutes it was the first real chance of the game. The goal for Solanke started with a free-kick for the hosts, which was played wide to Son Heung-min and cut back to Pedro Porro outside the box. His drive shot was only parried by Bayindir in the United goal, with Dominic Solanke on hand to gobble up the rebound from close-range.

Bayindir was called into action again midway through the first half, dealing with a challenging shot from Kulusevski at the near post after the Spurs man had rolled his marker. The Swedish winger continued to cause problems and a threatening pass across the six-yard box was almost turned into his own net by Manuel Ugarte as he attempted to cut it out.

By half-time, United had failed to test Forster in the Spurs goal, sending a number of speculative efforts off target or being frustrated by blocks.

Spurs consolidated their advantage less than a minute after the restart. The hosts worked the ball wide to James Maddison, whose low cross was cut out by Lisandro Martinez. But the clearance was a very tame one, straight to Kulusevski just a few yards away and a too much of a gift to refuse.

The third, less than ten minutes later, was easy for Spurs. Solanke beat the offside trap, cutting inside without much resistance and fired low into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

Forster’s first meaningful action of the night came after an hour, making an excellent save to his left to deny Zirkzee, who arched his back to generate power in a header that bounced up off the turf. But the goalkeeper went from hero to villain almost instantly, inexplicably passing the ball straight to Bruno Fernandes inside his own area. The square ball to Zirkzee meant the Dutchman couldn’t miss.

The veteran stopper soon wanted the ground to swallow him up as Amad reduced the deficit further. He dwelled too long with the ball at his feet, inviting pressure from the United winger, who managed to block the attempted clearance and divert it straight into the net.

With the momentum fully with Amorim’s side, Noussair Mazraoui was close to equalising when he was played in and chopped back, missing wide of the far post. Forster soon looked bewildered as Amad struck from distance, bizarrely hacking the ball away with a swing of his right boot.

Ultimately, Spurs were able to restore breathing room when Son managed to exploit something that has been a United weakness in recent weeks: defending a corner. The in-swinging delivery from the home skipper was high and towards the far post, evading everyone before it rippled the net. Bayindir was incensed that it was allowed to stand, claiming he was impeded by Lucas Bergvall after contact between the pair as he jumped. “He pushed my hand,” the goalkeeper could be seen saying, as he watched in disbelief the replay on the stadium’s big screen.

Somehow, there was still more, Evans halving the deficit again from a 94th minute corner. But it was too late to level things up and Spurs managed to hold on.