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Tottenham triumph in comedy of errors, angry gamblers drive online abuse, Bottas to Mercedes

There were seven goals in the last League Cup quarter-final of 2024, but it certainly wasn’t a thriller

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Manchester United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir  fails to stop Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-Min from scoring his side’s fourth. Photo: DPA
Before last night’s game, Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou said his job was harder than being prime minister – but if Keir Starmer had a defensive policy as weak as the Australian’s then a vote of no confidence would surely follow.
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In many ways, Spurs are like the little girl with the little curl, when they are good they are very, very good – see the 4-0 win over Manchester City – and when they are bad they are horrid.

Fans have seen both sides of that split personality on several occasions this season, most notably in the 4-3 defeat at home to Chelsea. Tottenham scored four times overnight and still could have lost, so that’s where we’ll start our round-up of what happened while you were sleeping.

A comedy of errors

The last League Cup quarter-final had seven goals, but was less thriller and more comedy, although probably only funny if you’re a neutral, not a Tottenham or Manchester United supporter.

Tottenham goalkeeper Fraser Forster (left) lowers his head after allowing Amad Diallo to score. Photo: EPA-EFE
Tottenham goalkeeper Fraser Forster (left) lowers his head after allowing Amad Diallo to score. Photo: EPA-EFE

Like Shakespeare’s shortest play, this was 90+ minutes of ridiculousness, mostly on the part of the Fraser Forster and Altay Bayindir, two players who have somehow been mistaken for goalkeepers.

With nearly an hour gone, Tottenham were 3-0 up and cruising at home – thanks to a Dominic Solanke brace and Dejan Kulusevski strike – then two Foster howlers allowed Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo to make it 3-2.

At that point, Bayindir got in on the act, flapping aimlessly at a Son Heung-min corner that went straight in to make it 4-2. There was still time for Foster to let a Jonny Evans header go through his arms, but Spurs held on to win 4-3.

In their own words

Sometimes it’s just better to sit back and let people dig their own graves, so, over to Ange Postegolou – for the record, no one has ever accused him of being “an astute tactician”.

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