Defeat At Bramall Lane

Last night’s result may well have solidified another season without a trophy for Tottenham Hotspur. An abject performance that was nowhere near clinical enough, and devoid of enough creativity to win the game against a team from the championship ended the hopes of the Lilly-whites lifting the F.A cup for a 9th time. 

This loss comes with an extra feeling of disappointment amongst fans of the club; the competition had opened up this year as a lot of the bigger clubs had succumbed to defeat in the previous round. In true Tottenham fashion, Spurs were handed a favourable fixture to progress but ended up making a mountain out of a mole hill, and Sheffield United to their credit proved to be too steep of a mountain to climb. 

Spurs had chances in the first half, most notably in the 30th minute. Richarlison was played through on goal, the Sheffield united defenders assumed the Brazilian was offside so stopped in their tracks, but the striker chose power over placement and ballooned his shot over the crossbar. 

Another chance came for Spurs just before half-time. Lucas Mora made a run down the right wing and sent a looping cross into the box which clipped the bar. Unfortunately for Tottenham the ball didn’t fall kindly to a Spurs player’s feet and the Sheffield United defenders were able to deal with the loose ball and make a clearance.

The best opportunity of the half came for Sheffield United. Hojberg played  a very poor pass which Coulibaly was able to intercept, but he was unable to capitalise on the mistake and his attempt on goal failed to hit the target and test the goalkeeper.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first. Spurs had a chance off a corner early on; Ivan Perisic with an effort on goal from a Son Heung-Min corner was caught by Foderingham to keep the game in the balance and the score tied.

Harry Kane, one of the best strikers in football today was introduced around the 65th minute mark, replacing Richarlison. It wasn’t the Brazilian centre forward’s best evening in front of goal. A wasted chance to go one nil up in the first half was then followed by a quiet display, and he struggled to make a real impact on the game. Oliver Skipp and Dejan Kulusevski were also introduced shortly after for Sarr and Lucas in hope of finding a winner and settling the tie.

Unfortunately for Tottenham the substitutions didn’t have the desired outcome. The winning goal came for the home team from a substitution of their own.The hosts took the lead with their first shot on target in the 79th minute, Iliman Ndiaye broke the deadlock with a wonderful bit of skill. The Senegalese international taking the ball past two players in the box before driving a low shot past Eric Dier and beating a helpless Fraser Forster at his near post. 

A late chance was wasted by Harry Kane as he failed to hit the target from a Perisic cross into the Sheffield United box, it’s a chance he really should have taken, especially for a player of his quality. Ultimately Tottenham are out of the cup, and their best opportunity to win silverware this season may have gone, unless of course they somehow win the Champions league.