The tie started with the home side dominating in possession, and despite a few half-chances for Amorim’s men, it was Dominic Solanke who opened the scoring for Spurs after Bayındır pushed a long-range strike from Pedro Porro straight into the striker’s path.
United were starting to build their dominance in front of goal at around the 30-minute mark. Still, nothing came before the half-time mark, with Jonny Evans having to replace Victor Lindelöf in defence for the final few moments before the first 45 minutes ended.
In the second half, it took Tottenham just 35 seconds to double their lead as Dejan Kulusevski pounced on a poor clearance from Lisandro Martínez, and eight minutes later, Solanke his second of the night, beating United into the ground.Joshua Zirkzee grabbed one back for United with 30 minutes to play as Bruno Fernandes capitalised on a poor moment from goalkeeper Fraser Forster. Amad Diallo copied him not long after, closing the keeper down and securing United a second with 20 minutes to play.
United continued to press for an equaliser, and they came close on a couple of occasions, but a fourth Spurs goal directly from a corner from Son Heung-min killed the side’s momentum. Despite a headed finish from Evans in the final moments, a 4-3 win for the home side was sealed.
Below are five things noticed from the fixture that has seen United out of the Carabao Cup at the quarter-final stage.
Although United have already played Man City and Arsenal, Tottenham represented Amorim’s toughest challenge yet, considering that City played poorly during the tie and Arsenal were only superior to United in set pieces.
Spurs threw all they had at United, as they do every game, and it took Amorim’s side a fair amount of time to adjust to the intensity, but for the most part, they looked well coached and organised, but missing the final product.
While this was the case, individual errors cost the side on the night, which no doubt were caused by the gung-ho nature of Spurs’ attack. However, the side must also be credited for how they fought back. The signs are there.