Well, a cracking second half there and the replay should be a belter, too. Very unlucky for Leicester there; they started the second half like a train, scored through the excellent substitute Okazaki and denied Tottenham any real chances after that. Then, right at the end, Dyer – rush of blood? Harsh decision? – was adjudged to have handled, sticking his arm out as Rose tried to get past him, and Kane thrashed home the spot kick. Leicester would probably have been worth the win after bucking their ideas up so much; Spurs, though, were rewarded for keeping going, probing away and playing their football.
All good fun anyway, and there’ll be two more of these meetings to savour in the next 10 days. Thanks a lot for our company this afternoon – enjoy the rest of your third round weekend!
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Full-time: Tottenham 2-2 Leicester
We go again (and again).
90+2 min: Free-kick headed away, and then Leicester try to counter but Bentaleb takes a yellow for the team with a foul on Dyer.
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90+1 min: Can Spurs win it now? Eriksen underhits a corner, not for the first or second time, so maybe not. But Albrighton then fouls the Dane just outside the box...
Goal! Tottenham 2-2 Leicester (Kane pen 89)
Of course ... Kane blasts the penalty past Schmeichel, hard and high to his right. It seems hard on Leicester.
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Penalty to Spurs!
From nowhere! Rose tries to get away from Dyer ... and it’s given for a handball by the midfielder as he possibly gets a flick on the ball when it goes beyond him! There didn’t seem any need at all, in that situation, and Leicester protest loud and long. Replays are inconclusive...
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87 min: Alderweireld diagonally to Alli ... a move we’ve seen before ... and Alli tries a clever, Jared Borgetti-style header over Schmeichel but it drops off target.
86 min: De Laet appears to hold Onomah up, but the midfielder rolls him and gets to the line. There’s a danger of conceding a penalty, but a corner is the outcome and it’s headed away. Spurs come again and Bentaleb lets fly ... this time belting it on target, Schmeichel diving to his right to punch away from goal! Closest Spurs have come in some time.
84 min: Anything Okazaki can do ... this time it’s Son getting back to defend after a dangerous Ulloa-led break.
83 min: Now Okazaki gets in front of an Onomah shot and it runs behind for a corner. It’s deep from Eriksen, and Son can’t make anything of it.
82 min: Alderweireld, who was possibly at fault for both goals, tries to influence things again, getting into a shooting position outside the ‘D’, but it’s snatched off target.
81 min: Dangerous, whipped ball from the busy Albrighton, cutting onto his right foot by the corner flag after chasing an Ulloa flick, and Okazaki leaps prodigiously but can’t direct his header on target.
80 min: Nobody is experiencing this match, I’ll wager, like Jim McKendrick –
“This reads to be a game that would be good to see. From here, my workplace in Vancouver, Canada, I cannot be watching, though. No need for pity, however; after lazily checking up on “Okazaki” in Wikipedia without his first name, I also found Miles Okazaki, a United States of American jazz (of course jazz, his first name is Miles). So my workstation computer is playing some of Shinji’s namesake’s music, and bringing your MBM updates while I prepare to suddenly get productive.”
79 min: Still Spurs press but still they can’t create too many chances, and Leicester are a much greater threat going forward in this half despite having a lead to defend. Not a sniff for Kane yet.
78 min: “For me Wasilewski is a dead ringer of King Leonidas in 300 (who was also some defender),” opines Michael Gartner.
75 min: A rare, but impressive, surge from Alderweireld to the right byline, and a superb cross. Inler does well to head behind. King heads the corner away in front of his own ‘keeper.
74 min: Schmeichel is exceptionally sharp to release Albrighton with an accurate, flat delivery, but the winger can’t find anyone with his centre.
73 min: Alli is on, to cheers, for the disappointing Chadli.
73 min: Chilwell, who has played decently, challenges Trippier firmly. Corner. It’s poor and King can sidefoot it away on the edge of the six-yard box.
72 min: Dele Alli, my favourite player of this season anywhere, is being readied.
71 min: Albrighton breaks and nearly plays Ulloa in with half of the pitch wide open, but Alderweireld seems that little bit more determined and wins the challenge on the striker.
@NickAmes82 football lookalikes? Wasilewski is Bluto in Popeyes? #blutoscores
— Galen (@gnorman125) January 10, 2016
Any advances? He’s certainly ‘stocky’.
69 min: Onomah, who has a good presence on the ball, strides towards the area but King steps in. Then Bentaleb tries to make an Okazaki-esque impact but goes high and wide from range.
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68 min: “You’re just a sh*t Jamie Vardy,” sing the Leicester fans to Kane.
68 min: Here’s Harry! And Nabil Bentaleb, too. Off come Carroll and Dier.
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66 min: Spurs camp around the Leicester 18-yard line for a while but the best they can muster is an Eriksen shot that is well blocked by Chilwell. Leicester are proving very hard to crack.
65 min: That was Gray’s last action. He has done very promisingly, but he’ll be replaced by Marc Albrighton now.
64 min: Then Inler switches superbly to Gray, who has a run on the left again. He cuts inside, has a pop ... and via the merest of deflections it drops an inch wide of the far post! He’ll take the corner, but it’s thumped away by Rose.
63 min: Gray chases a ball to the byline and reaches it, but his low centre is cleared. Leicester a threat on the counter, still.
61 min: Trippier lets fly but it’s blocked. Will be see Harry Kane before long?
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59 min: No danger from the set piece though – Chilwell dives in to head away at the near post.
58 min: Carroll switches to Son on the left. His angled shot is deflected for a corner. This game has genuine rhythm now.
57 min: Lovely football by Eriksen, Son and Carroll, who work the ball to Onomah in space, but the ball doesn’t quite sit up for him to make a clean contact. Leicester counter and Ulloa finds Dyer, who daisycuts a low one not too far wide.
55 min: Trippier is found nicely on the right and puts a low ball across, but Schmeichel dives to gather well. Spurs responding now and the pace of this game is far greater. Chadli now cuts into the box and shoots low at Schmeichel.
54 min: Eriksen outswings this one from the right ... and Dier flings himself at it but can’t connect. It comes to Son, who shimmies neatly but sees his shot bravely blocked by Wasilewski.
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53 min: Onomah wins a corner...
52 min: Okazaki sprints and slides in to stop a Vorm pass reaching Trippier, conceding a throw-in. He has upped Leicester’s intensity several notches.
51 min: A pause as Benalouane, who should be ok, gets some treatment. What a start to the second half from Leicester, though. They came out like a completely different team and caught Spurs absolutely cold.
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49 min: Just look at that! Leicester had already shown far more attacking intent in the opening minute or two and then, when Spurs couldn’t completely clear the second of two corners that followed the Benalouane header, they struck. Andy King teased a perceptive ball to Okazaki in the inside left channel, he wriggled a little too easily between two defenders and stabbed a shot at Vorm. The ‘keeper parried but Okazaki was first to react ... the substitute lashing in the rebound with just moments after coming on!
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Goal! Tottenham 1-2 Leicester (Okazaki 48)
Well now!
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47 min: Early moment for Leicester, with Inler looping in a free-kick and Benalouane heading the ball up ... it drifts downwards and close enough to Vorm’s goal that he decides to tip it behind.
46 min: Leicester are playing a fairly orthodox 4-4-2 now.
Peeeeeeeeeep. Spurs kick off the second half.
Here we go.
Second half is imminent, and Leicester making a change – Okazaki for Kante. Striker for midfielder...
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A reasonable game of football, which has lulled at times but is certainly hard to call. Thought Tottenham might push on after Eriksen’s goal, but they fell asleep at a set piece and haven’t created a great deal since despite a lot of possession. Leicester didn’t put much together at all, although they did improve a little going forward towards the end of the half. Don’t go anywhere.
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Half-time: Tottenham 1-1 Leicester
Oranges all round.
45+1 min: Gray takes, and a combination of Son and Vorm get it out of the danger area.
45 min: Good run by King down the left and he wins a corner from Alderweireld...
At White Hart Lane, where the guy next to me in the press box - naming no names - is struggling to stay awake. Serious nodding head syndrome
— Simon Burnton (@Simon_Burnton) January 10, 2016
It’s quite cramped in there, I’m not sure how you could get comfy enough for a snooze.
44 min: Meat and drink for Vorm, though, as Gray stands it up looking for Benalouane.
43 min: “Strong” tackle from Wimmer on Ulloa, and he’s probably lucky not to be booked. Dangerous free kick for Leicester...
42 min: Struggling to think of anything Leicester have put together apart from the goal ... but Kante does get forward for the first time and square for Gray, 25 yards out, who lets fly but sees his shot deflect up and to Vorm.
40 min: “Spurs own the left side right now,” says Jeff Gurr, surely confirming the half-hour delay right there.
39 min: Trippier makes headway down the right but Chilwell blocked well – and then leathers the ball out when the right-back has a second nibble.
37 min: Onomah goes down in the box under a Chilwell challenge ... nothing given although he did seem to be dragged back, albeit just outside the area.
37 min: From ‘Speakeasy Ray’ –
“One eve about 20 years ago brought ‘round an impromptu ‘fish fingers, chips & Jameson’ soirée (read: horrific gluttony). No idea of the actual number but sufficed to say it was of such a volume that I was a vegetarian pretty much immediately thereafter (still love Jameson, though...).”
36 min: Not sure this game has especially deserved two goals.
35 min: Eriksen tries his luck again from range but Inler blocks near the edge of the box, and then Schmeichel juggles – and eventually holds – another sighter from Dier.
33 min: Chadli squeezes through three men on the left after another good bit of distribution from Wimmer, and Kante comes back to concede a corner. Eriksen takes the inswinger, Schmeichel punches and Trippier returns with interest from 30 yards ... well hit, but also well over.
31 min: Spurs haven’t created a great deal since the equaliser. They’re probing but Leicester have men back in numbers and are giving little away – except down that left side, where Dyer is struggling defensively. Chadli tries a shot from 25 yards but Schmeichel is down to gather.
29 min: A first proper run for Gray, who then finds Chilwell on the overlap, but his cross from the byline is easy for Vorm.
28 min: Trippier crosses teasingly from the right – Kane might have liked that delivery – but Wasilewski heads away well from inside his six-yard box.
27 min: Eventually they find something incisive, Carroll clipping another pass beyond Dyer for Rose, whose cross is cut out. Then Onomah tries to dance through on the left but he gets the ball tangled in his feet.
26 min: Methodical stuff from Spurs, who work the ball towards the Leicester box with umpteen passes but are forced back again. They have had the ball for a long time.
24 min: Dodgy from Vorm, whose poor clearance after a Wasilewski punt only falls to Andy King. He takes a touch and tries to chip the goalkeeper from 30 yards, but it takes a deflection and Vorm is able to catch it close to his goal line.
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22 min: Leicester needed that as Spurs looked likely to push on and get a second. The home side are controlling the play still, but it is anyone’s game now....
20 min: Son tees up Eriksen, who can’t beat Schmeichel this time – the shot from 18 yards is on target but straight at him.
20 min: Leicester won a right-sided corner with pretty much their first serious incursion of the game. Gray outswung it, and Wasilewski timed his run perfectly, getting across Alderweireld a shade too easily and glancing into the far corner. Game ON!
Goal! Tottenham 1-1 Leicester (Wasilewski 19)
It was the first thing they’d done!
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18 min: Meanwhile, De Laet has to dive in at the very last minute to stop Son getting away after some great footwork. Superbly-timed challenge, and a vital one.
@NickAmes82 Highly symbolic goal that. Eriksen beat out Schmeichel to win Danish Footballer of the Year 2015 at a sporting gala last night..
— Kaspar Larsen (@KasparLarsen) January 10, 2016
There we go! Feuding Danes!
16 min: Eriksen takes quite a wobbly free-kick and Schmeichel, with the ball down his throat but moving a fair bit, chooses to punch clear.
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16 min: Rose, very lively indeed, capitalises on hesitant defending on the edge of the area and nips in ahead of Wasilewski – who chops him down and is booked. Dangerous free-kick...
14 min: From Matt Dony – “There has been no sensible reason to go to Newport since the sad closing of TJ’s, the best rock club in the world. On subject, Eriksen has to be one the most watchable players in the world. He’s not particularly flash, not particularly cocky or arrogant, just supremely capable. He can do anything he wants with the ball when the mood takes him.”
I know not what I have missed, Matt. My only prior knowledge of Newport had come from an old flatmate of mine who hailed from there and could eat 25 fish fingers in one sitting. Anyone beat that?
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13 min: Tottenham happy to dominate possession, as you’d expect, and Leicester can’t really get on the ball. Onomah, who is roaming from flank to flank, tries to get down the right but fouls the left-back Ben Chilwell, who has returned from a loan at Huddersfield.
11 min: Wasilewski, the Leicester defender, concedes a free-kick midway inside his own half but it’s dealt with. All Spurs now though.
9 min: The goal comes from good play from Onomah, slipping Son in on the inside left position. His shot across Schmeichel is deflected and probably going off target, but the goalkeeper parries ... only to the feet of Eriksen, who arrows a low finish into the opposite corner. Spurs are up and running.
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Goal! Tottenham 1-0 Leicester (Eriksen 8)
And off we go...
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7 min: Now Rose gets some space behind Dyer, found by a radar-like pass from the defender Wimmer, but his cross is drilled across goal and behind.
6 min: Ulloa hounds Vorm into a hurried clearance, but Leicester can’t make anything of the throw-in.
5 min: It’s a quiet start, to be fair, but Leicester clearly have the pace to sting on the counter, as is their wont, despite the absence of key players.
3 min: First shot of the match, and it’s dragged wide by the Leicester debutant Demarai Gray after cutting inside. The lesser-spotted Nathan Dyer was involved in the buildup.
2 min: Tottenham captain – yes, you read correctly – Danny Rose has an early run down the left, and then overlaps again but does not get a pass from Onomah.
Peeeeeeeeeeep! Leicester kick us off
They shoot from left to right.
Abhinav Dutta writes: “I have primed myself for the match by reading Candide while playing Daft Punk on the soundbox. Like Martin, I too am a Manichean and believe in the forces of evil and good in equal measure. But for once, I am confused between what is good and bad. As a Spurs fan, I am rightly inclined to see them winning here, but Leicester have brought alive the romance this season, so it cannot be all bad if they win, right? So is this mild conflict, which makes either outcome favourable, more Panglossian, and hence a rejection of my Manichean beliefs?”
Anyone?
Just to add – I’m particularly looking forward to seeing Josh Onomah play for Spurs today. Attacking midfielder, you’ll have seen him off the bench a few times recently, Pochettino loves him. Huge prospect...
The teams have emerged...
Mauricio Pochettino on his seven changes: “Always for me football is about the team and we think we can compete the performance we had against Everton [1-1 last week]. The season is tough, it’s always important to have a strong squad and the selection is not important. We are very confident we can do very well today.”
“It’s 8.40 am here in Alberta, Canada and the game is on TV here in another 40 minutes,” says Jeff Gurr (is it screened with a delay then?). “I get to watch the game and have bacon & eggs …. Life is good. Leicester to win 2-1”
Claudio Ranieri: “We play three matches in six days and it’s not possible for us to play all the matches at a very high level, but also I want to build a very strong team and want to understand who are the players able to continue for us. All the players deserve to play and today they have the chance.”
Elsewhere, Chelsea are beating Scunthorpe 2-0 at Stamford Bridge, although the League One side were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty at 1-0. Alan Smith takes you through the dying embers.
So back to those teams. Plenty of changes apiece, with the likes of Lloris, Walker, Alli, Lamela and Kane given a rest by Spurs while Drinkwater, Albrighton, Simpson, Riyad Mahrez and the completely absent Robert Huth and Wes Morgan are among those given the day off by Leicester. Demarai Gray gets a debut for the Foxes, which should be interesting. Thoughts?
@NickAmes82 Nick, I'm from Newport. Trust me, there's really not a whole lot else to do. Have a wonky Kyle Walker. X pic.twitter.com/Q6iQtTZ0h4
— Panini Cheapskates (@CheapPanini) January 10, 2016
Way to cheer a guy up...
The teams
Tottenham: Vorm, Trippier, Alderweireld, Wimmer, Rose; Carroll, Dier; Chadli, Eriksen, Onomah; Son. Subs: Lloris, Davies, Alli, Bentaleb, Lamela, Winks, Kane.
Leicester: Schmeichel; De Laet, Wasilewski, Benalouane, Chilwell; Inler, Kanté, King, Dyer; Ulloa, Gray. Subs: Schwarzer, Drinkwater, Morgan, Albrighton, Simpson, Okazaki, Mahrez.
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Good afternoon
If it’s a shock you want, you should probably have been around a couple of hours ago. There won’t be a shock here. No result, unless we get into some crazy figures, would raise the eyebrows too much. What you should see this afternoon, though, is a nicely-paced tie between two well-matched teams who are among the more pleasant things to have happened in this season’s Premier League. And that’s not a bad thing, is it?
There is, of course, another component to this. Tottenham and Leicester, fourth and second in the top flight respectively, will do this all again in just four days’ time – at the very same venue, White Hart Lane – in what looks a very important Premier League indeed. Leicester might as well doss down in the away changing room for a couple of nights, but it remains to be seen what any of this means for this FA Cup tie – the winners of which would have eliminated a credible rival for the famous old trophy.
We shall see very soon. Both managers will make changes, no doubt, and we already know that we won’t be seeing Jamie Vardy this afternoon due to his recent surgery. But both will spy an opportunity to progress, too, and they certainly won’t want a replay – so I’m going to stick my neck out and say we ought to get quite an entertaining, open encounter today.
Do send your emails and tweets in, whatever happens. Tell us about your FA Cup third round weekend. Mine has involved little more than travelling to Newport to look at some rain and puddles, so your insights are craved.
Kick-off is at 4pm UK time.
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Nick will be here shortly.
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