Iliman Ndiaye scored the only goal of the game to help Sheffield United produce one of the narrow football results of the weekend in the FA Cup. Tottenham was defeated by a team in the division below them in South Yorkshire exactly one year ago to the day after being defeated by the same scoreline at Middlesbrough. After starting Harry Kane on the bench, they were unable to recover from Ndiaye’s 79th-minute opener. Spurs’ trophy drought has now lasted 15 years, and for the fourth year in a row, they have left the biggest domestic cup competition in the fifth round.
With Antonio Conte still away from the country recovering from gall bladder surgery, the manager will escape some of the blame for this setback, but with his future uncertain, the heat is increasing on him ahead of a crucial phase in the Premier League and Champions League. It was a fantastic night for the Blades, who advanced to the last eight for the third time in four years and are now one win away from Wembley, which supplements their Championship promotion push.
Spurs chose to leave Kane on the bench despite the fact that this game had all the hallmarks of that night on Teesside. Spurs have been notoriously sluggish to get going this season, and they were once again in a largely forgettable first 20 minutes. Lucas Moura, making his first appearance since November, squandered a golden opportunity when a poor Sheffield United pass put him in, but after driving into the penalty box, he dallied and couldn’t find a man. Spurs’ dominance grew, and Richarlison, who started as a number nine, had an excellent chance but shot wide, while Moura saw a mis-hit cross skim off the crossbar.
The Premier League team should have gone into halftime down despite their dominance. Ismaila Coulibaly sneaked through but, with Billy Sharp screaming for a square delivery, he scuffed a shot into the side-netting after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg put his header back to goalkeeper Fraser Forster all wrong. Spurs came out firing in the second half, with Ivan Perisic glancing a corner over and Son Heung-min unable to find the target after making space for himself on the edge of the area. They were unable to maintain their lead, and the hosts began to play more aggressively.
Even Kane’s introduction couldn’t get Spurs back on track, as Pedro Porro curled wide after Hojbjerg’s long ball sent him clean. As the second half progressed, it became clear how the game would end, which it did 11 minutes from time. Sanchez and Porro’s weak defending allowed Ndiaye to wiggle free in the box, and he hit a low shot in at the near post, which did not protect Forster well. Spurs had to wait until late in the game to have a chance to force extra time, but Kane strangely headed Perisic’s cross over and United won.
“I believe we blew a major opportunity and must apologize to the fans. There were 5,000 of them here to observe our performance, and we apologize for squandering a significant chance,” Tottenham interim manager Christian Stellini said. “It is not anything I regret. We need to look at the medium-term because we have a lot of games. We have to take care of our best player, Harry Kane, who has played in the last six games, once with a fever and once with a problem. Because we played with Richarlison, Lucas Moura, and Sonny, it’s not about Harry. I believe it is adequate to compete in this competition and against this type of team.”
Sheffield United returns to Championship action on Saturday at 12.30 p.m. when they travel to Blackburn. Wolves visit Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Molineux.
FA Cup quarter-final draw in full
Man City vs Burnley
Man Utd vs Fulham
Brighton vs Grimsby
Sheffield United vs Blackburn
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