Tottenham Hotspur progressed to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a thrilling victory at The Molineux. Molineux Stadium (credit Flippo/ Wikimedia Commons) Tottenham Hotspur secured their passage to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a penalty shoot-out victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Spurs threw away a two goal lead in normal time, […]By Haran Naresh

Tottenham Hotspur progressed to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a thrilling victory at The Molineux.

Molineux Stadium (credit Flippo/ Wikimedia Commons)

Tottenham Hotspur secured their passage to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a penalty shoot-out victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Spurs threw away a two goal lead in normal time, with goals from Tanguy Ndombele and Harry Kane being cancelled out by strikes from Leander Dendoncker and Daniel Podence. The tie was an entertaining affair with both sides having periods of dominance.

Wolves debutant Yerson Mosquera picked up an injury early on that resulted in a delay to proceedings. This break in play prevented both sides from being able to settle into the game.

Tottenham took the lead in the 14th minute with their first big chance of the night. A loose ball fell towards Conor Coady and he made a mess of his clearance, hitting it straight at Tanguy Ndombele. Ndombele drove forward and held off Willy Boly before he cut back inside and slotted home. It was an excellent piece of composure shown by Tottenham’s record signing.

The goal brought the game to life. Just minutes later Bryan Gil sent in a cross from deep which found Dele Alli but he could not direct his header on target.

Tottenham capitalised on this period of dominance by adding their second with 23 minutes on the clock. Alli played a perfect through ball to Harry Kane and the striker advanced into the area before he delivered a low finish.

The home side found it very difficult to string passes together and were affording Tottenham far too much time and space on the ball.

However, Wolves did not completely collapse in this stage and managed to pull a goal back against the run of play.

In the 38th minute Rayan Ait-Nouri put in an excellent delivery from a corner and Leander Dendoncker rose above Ndombele to power a header into the far corner.

Tottenham were extremely comfortable at 2-0 up but all of a sudden they looked flustered.

A minute later Ait-Nouri crossed to Ki-Jana Hoever who whipped a cross into the box towards Fabio Silva but the ball was just beyond the striker’s reach.

Ait-Nouri then went on a mazy run before releasing a shot that was easily collected by Pierluigi Gollini.

At the other end Kane received the ball on the right flank and played Japhet Tanganga in behind. The defender blazed a shot over the bar from a narrow angle.

Kilman then picked out Hwang Hee-Chan in space in the box but he headed well wide.

Wolves were the stronger side in the closing minutes of the half.

Hwang missed a big chance to equalise for the home side in the 47th minute. Davinson Sanchez was muscled off the ball by Hoever, who put in a cross towards Hwang but the forward could only balloon his shot off target.

Wolves were starting to deny Spurs possession by pressing much higher up the pitch with a great deal of intensity.

Tottenham still carried a threat of their own and Davies sent in a cross that was cleared into the path of Alli, who played in Kane and the striker turned and hit an attempt which John Ruddy saved.

A minute later, Ndombele fired a swerving shot from 25 yards which Ruddy misread and almost let through his hands.

Wolves levelled the score just before the hour mark. Hwang won the ball off Ndombele and it fell into the path of Dendoncker, who squared to Daniel Podence and the winger curled his effort past Gollini.

Shortly after this, the away side missed a golden opportunity to restore the lead. Kane laid the ball off to Alli who picked out the unmarked Gil at the far post but the Spaniard could only hit the ball straight at Ruddy from point-blank range.

Substitute Adama Traore drove past Cristian Romero and put a teasing cross into the box but there were no Wolves players to meet it.

With 67 minutes on the clock, substitute Son Heung-min cut inside and put in a pin-point accurate ball for Kane and he hit a shot that was brilliantly saved by Ruddy.

For the second time in the game there was a lengthy delay, in this instance it was due to an injury sustained by Ait-Nouri.

Ruben Neves came extremely close to getting the winner in the 88th minute when he hit an effort that was deflected off Ndombele and hit the top of the crossbar.

The tie finished 2-2 and penalties were needed to decide the victor. The scoreline was a fair reflection of the game as both sides had periods where they created several excellent chances.

Kane, substitute Sergio Reguilon and Gil were all on target for Spurs with their spot-kicks and although Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg had his saved, this was not costly as Joao Moutinho, Neves, Dendoncker and Coady all missed theirs for Wolves.

Tottenham once again failed to deliver a consistent 90-minute performance that manager Nuno Espirito Santo will be looking for but will take much-needed confidence from securing progress to the next round.

Tottenham will visit Burnley in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup. This game will take place in the week beginning 25th October.

Spurs now turn their attention to what will be their biggest game of the season so far, the North London derby at Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday.

Tottenham manager Nuno Espirito Santo speaking in his post match press conference: “The first half we started really well. We were really good and we dominated, we pressed, we recovered balls and we created so many chances to put the game to bed.”

“I’m disappointed with the set piece. We cannot allow it because the momentum changes, the atmosphere changes and in the second half it wasn’t as we wanted.”

“I think we started the second half well, we had chances but then the atmosphere of Molineux is hard.”

On penalties: “The boys prepared well yesterday and we spent a lot of time preparing because it’s not luck. It’s having a goalkeeper who has the right info and it’s having the players making their responsibility and the tasks that they have to do.”

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