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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Scott Murray

Everton 5-4 Tottenham (aet): FA Cup fifth round – as it happened

Everton’s Bernard sores the fifth for the Toffees.
Everton’s Bernard scores the winner for the Toffees. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Reuters

Andy Hunter was the lucky man who witnessed all that first hand. His dispatch from Goodison has landed. You know what to do: clickity click ... and once you’ve read that, you’ll be wanting to catch up on fifth-round wins for Sheffield United, Leicester City and Manchester City. Thanks for reading this MBM; it was quite the ride, huh? Stay safe and warm, everyone. Nighty night!

... and now an extremely happy Duncan Ferguson: “It was a fantastic game, wasn’t it? What a brilliant game, eh? Obviously the defences struggled, didn’t they, and we struggled at set plays. They were strong at the corners. But we played a lot of good stuff. I started to lose count. It was a fantastic match. A lot of good performances on the attacking side. Carlo’s seen it all before, hasn’t he? It was an exciting game, end to end, great for the fans watching it on the TV. There was a lot of good spirit there. It was a long night but a great game and obviously we’ve come out and won it, which was the main thing!”

The big man also reported that Dominic Calvert-Lewin might have pulled his hamstring, but they’ll know more after tests tomorrow.

Jose talks to BT Sport. “I enjoyed it, and I didn’t enjoy it! I enjoyed the way we played when we had the ball. Since the first minute, we had a great situation, and that was just the beginning. We had the ball, we had a great dynamic, great movement. We scored goals, created more chances, great character to fight against incredible mistakes. But attacking football only wins matches when you don’t make more defensive mistakes than what you create. We scored four goals, but four goals were not enough. If it hurts me, it hurts everyone from our team, because our feeling is we played really well when we had the ball. We were brave, we create, we were the best team while winning 1-0. But in five minutes it was pom-pom-pom, mistake-mistake-mistake, goal-goal-goal. You fight back, go again, but more mistakes. You fight back again. That was the mouse and the cat. The mouse was our defensive mistake, and the cat was us trying to compensate that by playing well, but scoring goals was not enough. We can’t cry, we have to play Saturday.”

Ten out of ten for a generous, sporting response; maybe not so high a score for the Tom and Jerry analogy, which needs a little work. And there’s a bittersweet coda, as he explains that it’s not possible in the current climate for him to have a glass of red wine with his old pal Carlo, but “we had enough time to exchange a few comments. He’s a great guy. I wish him all the best.”

Post-match postbag, with Brad Wilson: “I am an Evertonian, but kudos to Spurs and Toffees for 120-plus awesome, agonizing, wacko, wonderful minutes. It’s why we watch. Oh, and Mr A for God.”

Despite it all, Gylfi Sigurdsson still has his feet firmly planted on terra firma. “It was too open-ended, too many goals. Probably good to watch, but I’m not gonna lie. It was fantastic to come back. We conceded three goals from corners or set pieces, which is something we need to have a look at. But the spirit in the team to come back and eventually go through is fantastic. It was probably fantastic to sit at home and watch, but for our liking too open. But a fantastic cup game, and it’s fantastic to still be in the competition!”

Carlo Ancelotti, a man schooled in Serie A, and Jose Mourinho - Jose Mourinho! - must wonder how their teams have just played out a nine-goal thriller of glorious nonsense. The old pals embrace warmly. Harry Kane trudges off sadly; Tom Davies goes on a long Duncan Fergusonesque arcing run. Everton continue to have Tottenham’s number in the FA Cup; that’s their fourth win over Spurs in a row. Their hope of a first trophy since the 1995 FA Cup remains alive. Tottenham’s wish for their first silverware since the 2008 League Cup will now depend on the League Cup final against Manchester City and a run in the Europa League. Oh, and you’ll be pleased to hear that Gary Naylor is OK: “I appreciate Mr Kavanagh’s concern, but I got through the semi-final on my feet at Elland Road in 1995 - useful practice.”

EXTRA TIME, FULL TIME: Everton 5-4 Tottenham Hotspur

Everton win a classic by the odd goal in nine!

ET 30 min: Keane bangs a header clear. Winks tries to smack a first-time effort back towards goal, but his effort squirts apologetically miles to the left of goal. That looks like curtains for Spurs, whose 30-year wait for a ninth FA Cup goes on.

ET 29 min: Hojbjerg loops long from the right. Mina is forced to concede yet another corner on the left. Can Everton hold out, or will they be undone at a corner again?

ET 28 min: Winks crosses deep from the right. Kane rises and sends a weak header wide left. It wasn’t the easiest chance, to be fair, eight yards out from a standing start. It would have been a hell of a goal had he planted his header home. But such are Kane’s standards, he’s livid with himself.

ET 27 min: The corner leads to some glorious bedlam. Some football breaks out, Son dribbling adroitly down the left, reaching the byline and clipping back, hoping to find either Kane or Vinicius. Doucoure pops up to intercept and clear. What an intervention!

ET 26 min: Sissoko breezes down the right and crosses deep, forcing Holgate to head behind for a corner. “Has anyone checked in on Gary Naylor?” wonders Justin Kavanagh. “He’s not a young man.”

ET 25 min: After some interminable faff, Kane blooters a witless effort into the wall. It hits the arm of Davies, but it wasn’t an unnatural position, and neither referee nor Mr VAR shows any interest in Tottenham’s claim.

Harry Kane’s free kick hits the wall.
Harry Kane’s free kick hits the wall. Photograph: Clive Brunskill/AFP/Getty Images

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ET 23 min: Davies crosses long from the left. Sissoko brings it down spectacularly, to the right of the D, but can’t quite a shot away. No matter, because the ball breaks to Vinicius, who is clattered by Holgate just to the left of the D. Kane’s eyes light up.

ET 21 min: Winks lines up a shot, 25 yards out, but takes his sweet time over it, allowing Doucoure to close him down. Kane battles for the rebound, and is bowled over by Coleman out on the left. The resulting free kick dings off the top of Holgate’s head and into the arms of Olsen.

ET 19 min: Winks tries to cross from a deep position on the right. The ball’s blocked and squirts through to Olsen. Spurs can’t quite get anything going at the minute, and time’s running out.

ET 18 min: An Everton free kick out on the left. It’s curled towards the near post, where Keane rises highest. Not for the first time this evening, he sends a very decent chance harmlessly wide.

ET 17 min: Holgate comes on for a clearly knackered Digne.

ET 16 min: Immediate action at both ends! Kane has a shot blocked by Mina’s slide. Everton counter, then Sigurdsson sends a rasper straight at Lloris, who blocks.

Spurs get the second half underway. During the break, Carlo Ancelotti was pictured blowing insouciantly into his cup of coffee. “Not sure cucumbers come cooler than that!” suggests Grant Tennille.

EXTRA TIME, HALF TIME: Everton 5-4 Tottenham Hotspur

Sigurdsson flays another long-range shot into the Gwladys, and that’s it for the first period of extra time.

ET 15 min +1: Richarlison isn’t too happy about the added minutes, and makes his feelings known to the referee, who quite properly doesn’t listen.

ET 15 min: Keane heads the second corner away convincingly. There will be two added minutes to this first half of extra time.

ET 14 min: Alli wins Tottenham’s 897th corner of the evening, down the right. Son takes. Kane rises, but Mina deflects over for another corner.

ET 13 min: Sissoko glides in from the right and finds Vinicius in the centre. Vinicius slips to Kane down the inside right. Kane goes over near the D, but he’s not getting the free kick he wants. He is livid.

ET 11 min: Davies swings one in from deep on the right. It nearly drops to Richarlison on the penalty spot. The ball flashes past him. Not sure why Richarlison didn’t make more effort to go for that one. Had he trapped it, Everton would surely be celebrating number six.

ET 10 min: A corner for Spurs out on the right this time. Everton deal with it easily, and Coleman breaks up the other end. Winks is forced to take one for the team, sliding through the back of the Everton captain. Yellow.

ET 8 min: Spurs respond by replacing Lamela and Doherty with Vinicius and Sissoko.

GOAL! Everton 5-4 Tottenham Hotspur (Bernard 97)

Bernard’s got the funk now! Sigurdsson spins and wedges a gorgeous ball down the inside-left channel for Bernard, who has timed his run perfectly. He waits for the ball to drop, then sends a screamer past Lloris and into the bottom right!

Bernard celebrates the fifth Everton goal.
Bernard celebrates the fifth Everton goal. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Reuters

Updated

ET 5 min: Kane bustles into the Everton box from the left, working a little space, but can’t manage anything that troubles Olsen, slipping and hitting a shot into his other leg. Here’s Peter Oh: “Sigurdsson, Richarlison and Davinson have all scored at Goodison, but Son hasn’t? Go on, Son!”

Updated

ET 4 min: Bernard dances in from the left, but his shot is weak and squeaks through to Lloris. In this instance, Bernard does not have the funk.

ET 3 min: Coleman dinks Richarlison into space down the right. His dink inside proves easy pickings for Lloris. Everton come back again, Coleman going solo down the right this time. His cross is cleared by Alli.

ET 2 min: Spurs hog the ball in these early extra-time exchanges. Everton, perhaps drawing from the experience of extra time in the third round against Rotherham, sit back and take it easy.

It’s extra time! Spurs have replaced Ndombele with Winks. Everton kick off, playing towards the Gwladys in these first 15 minutes.

Updated

Full-time postbag ... and it’s Gary Naylor again: “This is reaching Ken Dodd levels of entertainment with about the same time of night for the closing curtain. Bernard has something of Dicky Mint about him too.”

FULL TIME: Everton 4-4 Tottenham Hotspur

Richarlison heads Son’s corner clear, and the whistle goes after 90 minutes that felt like 90 seconds. What a match!

90 min +5: Hojbjerg’s left-wing cross is deflected out for a corner. They couldn’t, could they? Everton haven’t dealt with these at all!

90 min +4: Bernard tries to get something going down the left, but nothing’s doing. We’re surely heading to an extra 30 minutes, a state of affairs that is only right and proper.

90 min +3: Digne has also been booked for ... transgressing the laws of football.

90 min +2: Kane absurdly goes straight for goal, the best part of 35 yards out. He’s then booked for sliding through the back of Davies. Not a banner 60 seconds for the Spurs captain.

90 min +1: There will be five minutes to find a heartbreaker. Richarlison is booked in the first of them, as he hauls back Son, who was making good down the inside left.

90 min: Son sashays down the left and looks to fire a long-range curler into the bottom right. It’s always heading wide. I can’t quite work out whether this tie should be decided by an injury-time winner, some extra-time drama, or penalties. Can it go to a replay, please?

88 min: Alli is booked for simulation, having gone over in the middle of a penalty-box melee. That looked a bit harsh. It wasn’t a penalty, but you can understand why he fell over in challenging for a loose ball. Lamela had also gone over, having clanked into Digne’s heels. That wasn’t a penalty either.

87 min: Alli sends Son hurtling down the left wing at pace. He’s only got Godfrey to get past, and he’ll be one on one in the box. Top marks to Godfrey for holding his line and ushering Son away from danger.

86 min: Kane has a dig from a distance. Speculative. Ambitious. Goal kick.

85 min: The FA Cup, eh? Bloody hell! Spurs were about to send on Vinicius, but Jose’s changed his mind.

GOAL! Everton 4-4 Tottenham Hotspur (Kane 83)

Son’s corner is palmed out by Olsen. Lamela meets the dropping ball and creams it towards the top right. Doucoure heads off the line! But Son gets the ball out left again, crossing deep for Kane, who heads into the bottom right from close range! This is absurd!

Harry Kane celebrates the fourth Tottenham goal.
Harry Kane celebrates the fourth Tottenham goal. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Reuters

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82 min: Another touch in the box for Richarlison, up the other end this time, as he clears Son’s corner from the left. But the visitors come again, winning another corner, from which ...

81 min: Doucoure and Coleman combine well down the right, but can’t quite open Spurs up. Godfrey switches play. Richarlison tries to round Sanchez on the left, inside the box. He goes over. He doesn’t get the penalty he wants, even though Sanchez had a hand on his back. You’ve certainly seen those given.

79 min: Son crosses deep from the left. Kane keeps the ball in play and cuts back for Doherty, who hoicks the ball out for a goal kick. Spurs are beginning to push Everton back, in search of another equaliser.

77 min: Son’s ball in from the left causes some panic in the Everton box. Keane flays out for a corner. Before it can be taken, Moura is replaced by Dele Alli. Son sends the corner into the mixer. Coleman heads powerfully clear.

75 min: Digne is blocked by Moura as he attempts a one-two down the left. Free kick, and a chance for Everton to line up on the edge of the box. Kane heads it clear, but the ball’s worked out to Bernard on the right. Bernard whips in for Keane, who bashes a header straight at Lloris from six yards. He should have scored.

74 min: By way of illustration, look at this. Spurs win a corner down the left. Son whips it in. Olsen flaps the ball to the edge of the box. Lamela returns it while falling backwards, lashing a half-volley inches over the post. This is far from over, like that’s breaking news.

72 min: Bernard has the chance to release Richarlison into a world of space on the break, but hesitates. Then Richarlison goes over, claiming an illegal block. He’s not getting the decision and the move breaks down. There’s no immediate sense that Everton are planning to shut up shop. Perhaps that’s wise, given the way they’ve been defending corners.

70 min: Bernard comes on for Iwobi.

69 min: Richarlison had almost nothing to aim for there. It was a fantastic strike, not totally dissimilar to Lamela’s effort just before the break.

GOAL! Everton 4-3 Tottenham Hotspur (Richarlison 68)

Out of nothing! Spurs fail to clear their lines. Sigurdsson picks up possession and slips a cute first-time pass down the inside-left channel. Richarlison takes a touch. He’s facing a tight angle, but lashes across Lloris, off the right-hand post, and into the net!

Everton’s Richarlison scores their fourth goal.
Everton’s Richarlison scores their fourth goal. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Reuters

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67 min: Lamela swings the free kick straight into Olsen’s grateful arms. A dreadful delivery.

66 min: Mina is booked for clipping Son’s ankle, as the Spurs man strides purposefully down the right. A chance for Spurs to load the box.

64 min: The dance continues. Moura bursts into a pocket of space down the inside right, before finding Kane on the penalty spot. But Kane is swarmed, and Doucoure flatly refuses to allow him a shot on goal.

62 min: Digne, near the corner flag on the left, pulls back for Sigurdsson, who sends a wild volley into the Gwladys End. The ebb and flow of this match is mind-blowing. Some trippy gear.

61 min: Spurs have enjoyed 88 percent of possession during the last five minutes. Everton respond with Coleman barrelling down the right. He can’t find Richarlison in the middle, but Spurs looked exposed for a second there.

59 min: Sigurdsson finds a little space in the Spurs box to the left. His cross-cum-shot is hacked clear by Alderweireld. Good luck predicting the final score of this.

GOAL! Everton 3-3 Tottenham Hotspur (Sanchez 57)

The corner’s whipped in from the left. Alderweireld rises to flick towards the bottom right. Olsen acrobatically fingertips out, but the ball falls to Sanchez, who pokes home from close range while falling backwards during a grapple with Sigurdsson. Spurs have brought it back!

Davinson Sanchez gets Spurs back on level terms.
Davinson Sanchez gets Spurs back on level terms. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Reuters

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56 min: Son dribbles at full speed down the left, and skelps a low cross into the six-yard box. Keane does extremely well to hack it out for a corner, and not trundle it into his own net. Not that it matters too much, because ...

55 min: A change for Everton, too. Calvert-Lewin has felt a twinge and there’s no point in risking him. Coleman comes on in his place.

53 min: Here’s Harry! Kane comes on for Bergwijn.

52 min: Ndombele quarterbacks from deep but can’t channel his inner Tom Brady, launching straight into Olsen’s hands. A shame for Spurs, because Bergwijn was in some space there, with only Godfrey in attendance.

51 min: To further illustrate this attacking ambition, Spurs are preparing to send on Harry Kane.

49 min: Some busy work by Bergwijn out on the left. He can’t find the killer pass infield, though. Early signs that both sides intend to pick up where they left off in the first half: on the attack, and to hell with it.

47 min: Lamela catches Richarlison, following through after a slide tackle. Richarlison yelps and grabs his boot. The referee considers flashing his yellow card again, but thinks better of it.

46 min: Richarlison is brought down by Doherty, out on the left. Doherty makes up for it by heading Digne’s free kick clear. Moura tries to break down the right on the counter, and is hauled back by Sigurdsson for his trouble. The first booking of the match.

Everton get the second half underway. They’re kicking towards Gwladys Street in this second half. Mourinho - who had sent his players out early - shares a laugh and a joke with Ancelotti. Friendship more important than football, right? No changes.

Half-time postbag. “If this first half is Spurs at their most Spursy, there’s every chance of Everton being Evertony in the second half,” writes Gary Naylor, who has seen it all before, and has the t-shirt to boot.

Justin Kavanagh adds: “Job 1 for Goodison ground staff tomorrow morning: Touch up away dressing room where paint peeling badly.”

And in an email with the heading ‘The unbearable spursiness of being (spurs)’, Peter McLeod sighs: “That’s all really. It doesn’t get any easier. Still, it’s quite a match tho eh?”

HALF TIME: Everton 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur

A thoroughly daft and wonderfully entertaining half comes to an end. And to think Olsen has made a couple of last-ditch saves, while Lloris turned a shot onto the post! The magic of the FA Cup, right here.

Updated

GOAL! Everton 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Lamela 45+3)

Lamela one-twos with Son down the inside-left channel. Mina should clear the return, but takes a fresh-air swipe and Lamela’s free in the box! He takes a touch and rasps a shot across Olsen and into the right-hand side of goal! Wow!

Erik Lamela gets on back for Spurs.
Erik Lamela gets on back for Spurs. Photograph: Getty Images

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45 min +2: As does the second. Spurs look thoroughly flummoxed.

45 min +1: The first of three extra minutes goes by without incident.

45 min: It’s nearly four, as well, Richarlison robbing Sanchez, dithering under a long ball. The hapless defender is very fortunate that Richarlison’s first touch is too strong, because otherwise he’d have been rounding Lloris and walking the ball into the net.

44 min: I’m still not going to insult your intelligence. You can picture him.

GOAL! Everton 3-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Sigurdsson 43 pen)

Sigurdsson gives Lloris the eyes. He slots the ball into the bottom right as the keeper dives the other way. A lovely penalty, and this is a quite astonishing turnaround in fortunes!

Gylfi Sigurdsson scores from the spot.
Gylfi Sigurdsson scores from the spot. Photograph: Tony McArdle/Everton FC/Getty Images

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Penalty for Everton!

42 min: A long pass down the Everton left. Sigurdsson takes possession and slips infield for the charging Calvert-Lewin. Hojbjerg clips his heels, the striker goes over, and the referee points to the spot!

41 min: Doherty goes in hard on Digne. He makes proper contact, though managed to withdraw his studs just in time, so it’s nothing more than a foul.

40 min: The tie has been turned on its head in two minutes and 35 seconds. Everton had been second-best, but now look. You don’t need me to describe the look on Jose Mourinho’s face, I’d just be insulting your intelligence.

GOAL! Everton 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Richarlison 38)

Spurs fail to deal with a simple long ball. Calvert-Lewin flicks it to Richarlison, 25 yards out, down the inside-right channel. Richarlison takes a touch to the right, then creams a glorious low drive into the bottom left, Lloris with no chance. What a turnaround!

Richarlison makes it two for the Toffees.
Richarlison makes it two for the Toffees. Photograph: Clive Brunskill/AFP/Getty Images

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GOAL! Everton 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Calvert-Lewin 36)

Hojbjerg gives the ball away, trying to one-two upfield on the left. Sigurdsson flicks Calvert-Lewin into space down the channel. Standing to the right of the D, he pearls towards the top right. Lloris should stop it, but can’t deal with the power, and the ball nestles in the net. Against the run of play, Everton are level!

Dominic Calvert-Lewin fires the first goal for the Toffees.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin fires the first goal for the Toffees. Photograph: Clive Brunskill/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

35 min: Iwobi wins a corner down the right. Sigurdsson swings it in. Mina rises highest on the edge of the six-yard box. It’s a fine chance, but he heads weakly wide right. No matter, though, because ...

34 min: Everton make a meal of clearing the second one, but Doucoure’s dogged persistence allows them to break through the Spurs press and clear.

33 min: One corner leads to another.

31 min: Moura dribbles down the inside right, Everton panicking as they backpedal. He lays off to Son, whose shot is blocked. The ball breaks left to Bergwijn, who creams a low first-time drive straight at Olsen. Spurs look by far the more likely here.

Steven Bergwijn shoots at goal.
Steven Bergwijn shoots at goal. Photograph: Getty Images

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29 min: Richarlison is bowled over out on the left. Everton load the box. Digne floats the free kick into the mixer ... but everyone in blue is far too excited and they’re all caught offside.

28 min: Olsen is forced into action again as Lamela strides towards the Everton box and curls powerfully towards the bottom left. Olsen gets down well to gather. Everton afforded Lamela far too much time and space there. The hosts living a little dangerously.

27 min: Doherty makes good ground down the right again. He picks Son out in the middle with a low cutback. Son hits a rising shot towards the top right. Olsen makes his second big save of the evening to turn over the bar. Nothing comes of the corner.

25 min: Moura intercepts another loose Everton pass. He should send Son scampering into acres down the inside-left, with the hosts extremely light at the back, but overcooks the pass.

24 min: Doherty heads down the other end now, combining with Lamela and nearly zipping into space down the right. Not quite. Both teams are going for this, back and forth.

22 min: Everton ping it around, with speed and verve this time. Suddenly Keane tries to break past Doherty down the left, but the Spurs right-back wins the tussle and ushers the ball out for a goal kick.

20 min: Nothing comes of the resulting corner. But with Everton having finally woken up, this is a good game!

19 min: An innocuous-looking ball sent into the Spurs box somehow evades two defenders in the slapstick style, and suddenly Calvert-Lewin has the ball at his feet, ten yards out, level with the right-hand post. He sends a snapshot towards the bottom right. It’s heading in, but Lloris tips onto the base of the post.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s shot is turned onto the post by Hugo LLoris.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s shot is turned onto the post by Hugo LLoris. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA

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18 min: Richarlison’s appalling pass infield from the left is snaffled by Hojbjerg, who drives down the middle. He reaches the edge of the Everton box and lays off to Son on his right. Son dinks across for Moura, but Godfrey reads the danger to poke away. Danger averted.

17 min: So having said that, Everton pick up the pace. Of course they do. You’re welcome. Richarlison has a shot blocked, then Godfrey sends a vicious long-range daisycutter towards the bottom right. A fantastic effort that’s well parried by Lloris. Much better.

15 min: Everton pass the ball around slowly, then ship possession, Spurs showcasing a much higher tempo. Shades of Everton’s recent home defeat at the hands of a much hungrier Newcastle.

13 min: Keane’s loose pass allows Spurs to come at the hosts again. Son tries to curl into the bottom left from the edge of the box, but it’s an easy gather for Olsen.

12 min: Richarlison threads a cute ball down the middle that nearly finds Doucoure on the edge of the Spurs box, but Alderweireld is across quickly to intercept and clear. Everton have finally pieced something together in attack, at least.

11 min: Ndombele is still holding his lower back, and hobbling around in a very ginger style. But he’s trying to run it off, and here he flicks a pass down the inside-left channel in the hope of releasing Bergwijn. It’s not accurate, but that was another fluid Spurs attack, Son this time gaining plenty of yards at speed. Everton need to snap out of this and quick.

9 min: Davies crashes into the back of Ndombele, shoulder first. It’s clumsy and a wee bit aggressive, but the referee limits the punishment to a free kick. It takes Ndombele some time to get up. He really felt that.

7 min: Everton, rather understandably, look a little rattled. They try to gather themselves by stroking a few passes around, but can’t get very far past the halfway line.

5 min: That might be the earliest time in a match anyone’s been able to say “It had been coming” in the entire history of All Football. Spurs flew out of the blocks. They should really be two up.

Davinson Sanchez is congratulated by his Spurs teammates.
Davinson Sanchez is congratulated by his Spurs teammates. Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

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GOAL! Everton 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Sanchez 3)

Son takes. Sanchez rises above Sigurdsson and flicks a dainty header across Olsen and into the bottom right! Simple as that! Everton haven’t started at all.

Davinson Sanchez rises to head the opener.
Davinson Sanchez rises to head the opener. Photograph: Getty Images

Updated

2 min: This is a fine start by Spurs, Bergwijn winning the first corner of the game down the left. And from that ...

50 seconds: Spurs are kicking towards Gwladys Street in this first half. And they should have the ball in the net after their first attack. Moura dribbles down the inside-left channel and lays off to Bergwijn to his left. Bergwijn clips a cross for Lamela, who draws a sensational save from Olsen, his header clawed out, heading in bottom left. Moura should put the rebound away, but leans back and fires over.

Spurs get the ball rolling ... but only after a moment to remember Dai Davies, who kept goal for Everton in the 1970s, and sadly passed today. Also the knee. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out.

Here come the teams! Everton in royal blue, Spurs in lily white. Z-Cars fills the cold night air with early-60s jangle. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes!

Jose Mourinho has also been talking to BT Sport. “It’s a difficult match. The cup. The potential of Everton. But we don’t come here with any other intention than to try to go through to the quarter finals. Harry Kane is the kind of player you want to play every minute of every match. He’s an experienced guy and knows his body better than anyone. He wanted to be involved because we have to try everything to get to the quarter finals. But he’s not well enough to start a second game in a couple of days.” As for his friendship with opposite number Carlo Ancelotti? “I can anticipate the words we will have at the end of the match. I think the loser will tell the winner: now that you kill me, go and win it. For sure these are going to be the words!”

A word with Everton assistant Duncan Ferguson. “It’s the most important match of the season for us. We really want to go as far as we can in the tournament. Hopefully it’s an avenue into Europe, and we’ll be trying our very best tonight. We’ve got a strong team. We’ll take this very seriously and hopefully we can push on and get the victory tonight.” He also reports that Andre Gomes has a knock, and that’s the reason he’s surprisingly not involved this evening.

Three changes to the Everton XI named at Old Trafford on Saturday. Yerry Mina, Alex Iwobi and Gylfi Sigurdsson step up. Mason Holgate drops to the bench, while James Rodriguez (calf) and Andre Gomes miss out altogether. Still no Jordan Pickford.

Tottenham make two changes to the team selected for the West Bromwich Albion game on Sunday. Matt Doherty and Steven Bergwijn replace Serge Aurier (calf) and Harry Kane, the latter taking a place on the bench alongside Dele Alli, who is back after a tendon problem.

The teams

Everton: Olsen, Keane, Godfrey, Digne, Mina, Doucoure, Iwobi, Davies, Sigurdsson, Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Virginia, Tyrer, Holgate, Nkounkou, Bernard, Coleman, Onyango.

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Doherty, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Davies, Hojbjerg, Ndombele, Lamela, Bergwijn, Lucas, Son.
Subs: Hart, Dier, Rodon, Tanganga, Winks, Sissoko, Dele, Kane, Vinicius.

Referee: David Coote (Nottinghamshire).

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Preamble

Everton have won the last three FA Cup meetings between these grand old clubs. In 1983, when Andy King and Graeme Sharp knocked the holders out at Goodison. In 1986, when Gary Lineker’s diving header saw off his future employers at White Hart Lane. Then, most recently, the 1995 semi.

Tottenham Hotspur went into that tie as strong favourites. Everton were in their Dogs of War phase and struggling near the foot of the Premiership; Spurs had Jurgen Klinsmann, Teddy Sheringham, Nick Barmby, Darren Anderton and Gica Popescu in their team. But Everton went at Tottenham’s defence from the get-go, and Matt Jackson, Graham Stuart and Daniel Amokachi (twice) ran up the score in a spectacular 4-1 rout.

Spurs owe Everton one, then. Can they knock the Toffees out of the cup for the first time since 1972, when Alan Gilzean, Martin Peters and Martin Chivers ran rings around them in a 2-0 win at Goodison? Or will Everton make it four on the bounce? Both teams are desperate to slake their FA Cup thirst: Everton haven’t won the competition since Paul Rideout did for Manchester United in 1995, while Spurs have been waiting ever since beating Nottingham Forest in 1991, Gazza, Cloughie, Des Walker, all that. Let’s see who makes it through to the last eight, one step nearer the holy grail. We could have extra time. We could have penalties. It should be good fun. It’s on!

Kick off: 8.15pm GMT.

Updated

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