Carabo Cup, Tottenham and Manchester United 4-3. Spurs in the semi-finals

December 19 – 11.39pm – MILANO

Tottenham are in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, Manchester United are eliminated. The verdict is the easiest thing about the Tottenham Stadium match, how we got there is a sensational swing of emotions, a succession of certainties demolished step by step by goals and errors. It ends with Spurs winning 4-3, but they were ahead 3-0 after an hour of play before goalkeeper Fraser Forster opened the door to a comeback for the Red Devils with two sensational errors. For the first hour, United was definitely the worst version of the month with Ruben Amorim, then thanks above all to Amad Diallo, who came on with the team three goals down, he showed his character to get back into the game, taking advantage of the goalkeeper’s sensational errors opponent. The verdict remains, with Tottenham continuing to dream that the League Cup will become its way of lifting that trophy that it has missed for so long, but there also remain the many ups and downs of the two teams that made this quarter-final a match unforgettable.

the keys

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Tottenham of the first hour is a dominant team, with a true center forward in Dominik Solanke (the first and third goals are his), a player in extraordinary form in Dejan Kulusevski (2-0 at the start of the second half), an exceptional talent in Son. But it also has many flaws, including the goalkeeper. The injury of Guglielmo Vicario, in the stands trembling like the rest of the almost 60 thousand fans, opened a chasm between the posts that the veteran Forster showed so sensationally that he is unable to fill. He was the one who gave United the comeback, with the sensational errors that allowed first Zirkzee and then Diallo to take the Red Devils from 0-3 to 2-3. The fact that the goals were scored by two reserves raises the curtain on United’s problems: they are a team that is a work in progress, with Amorim continuing to rotate his players in search not only of the set-up but also of the best position for each of them. The Portuguese coach has already understood that he cannot do without Bruno Fernandes (much better as a midfielder than as an attacking midfielder), perhaps after this match he has understood that Diallo is equally indispensable: no one is as fit as the hero of the derby with City and when he came in the game changed. Tottenham is left with the passage of the round, the fact of having put together two victories in a row for the first time since the beginning of November. At United a work in progress sign but also the certainty of having enormous character. It is on this quality that Amorim must build its refoundation.

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the match

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Spurs broke the deadlock with the first attack, with Solanke, a predator in the area who pounced on a short clearance from Bayindir in the 15th minute. United’s reaction was so weak that Amorim’s team still hadn’t had a shot on target at half-time. And the second half starts even worse, with Kulusevski who after less than a minute brings Tottenham to 2-0. United wobbles, Spurs rage and Solanke seems to close the match with 3-0 already in the 54th minute, scoring his second brace of the season at the Tottenham Stadium. It seems because shortly after Spurs decide to throw a lifesaver to United, with Forster making a mistake in building from the bottom and the newly introduced Zirkzee putting the Red Devils on the scoreboard. It wasn’t enough for the goalkeeper: in the 70th minute he returned the ball to Diallo and Tottenham’s lead went from a comfortable 3-0 to a scary 3-2. United now dominates, but Son takes care of it with a sensational goal from a corner in the 88th minute to wake him up. The emotions aren’t over yet, because in the 94th minute Evans makes it 4-3 from Diallo’s corner. The result no longer changes: Tottenham goes to the semi-finals after yet another crazy match to remember.