Tottenham had to grind out a 3-0 win over Tamworth FC in the FA Cup third round
Tottenham Hotspur suffered the humiliation of being taken to extra time by National League side Tamworth FC, before winning 3-0 and avoiding one of the biggest shocks in FA Cup history on Sunday.
Four days after being Liverpool 1-0 in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the North Londoners’ side of established internationals toiled against an opponent nearly 100 places lower in English football’s pyramid.
A massive shock was on the cards when Tamworth FC forced off extra time with the score 0-0, only for the hosts to concede an own-goal in the 101st minute followed by strikes from Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson.
Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou had named a strong XI knowing well the challenges of facing a fifth-tier side on artificial turf inside the tiny The Lamb Stadium. When his first XI failed to unlock the Tamworth defence, the Australian was compelled to bring on the cavalry including Dominic Solanke, Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski from the bench to win the FA Cup third round.
Given the number of injuries and the gruelling fixture schedule with a trip to Arsenal in midweek, Postecoglou would have wanted to save his big-hitters and keep them fresh for the North Londoners. However, that didn’t turn out to be the case as Tamworth forced Postecoglou’s hand to make full use of his squad on Sunday.
The Tottenham boss faced the media after advancing past Tamworth into the FA Cup fourth round. When asked is there a frustration at some players having to play 120 minutes with the Arsenal game in midweek, Big Ange said (h/t Football London):
“No, no, the main thing is that we got the job done and we got through, whether it’s 90 minutes or whatever it was. We would have preferred to have finished it off earlier but at the end of the day we got through to the next round and that’s the main thing.”
-> Werner: 5, Antonin: 8 , Moore: ?? | Tottenham Player Ratings vs Tamworth FC | FA Cup 2024/25
So many Tottenham players must be pretty fatigued at the moment and it would have been nice to see the likes of Solanke, Kulusevski, Son and a few more get some rest at the weekend. The playing conditions were not pristine and our players had to adapt to it. Thankfully, Big Ange had no injuries or knocks to report after the game.
More Tottenham Hotspur News:
After the extreme efforts in the FA Cup third round, our players have to rest and recuperate quickly ahead of the mouthwatering North London derby. Arsenal are not in the best of forms and were dumped out of the FA Cup third-round by Manchester United on penalty shootout, so perhaps this is the best time for Big Ange’s boys to rock up at the Emirates Stadium and pile more misery on Mikel Arteta.
