David Hytner’s match report
FULL TIME: Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Newport County
And that’s that! Spurs are through to the fifth round in a fuss-free manner. They didn’t put on a show, but then they didn’t have to. Newport put in a decent performance, and their pride remains intact. But all of the drama was played out at Rodney Parade. No matter, as their fans celebrate anyway. They made it to Wembley in the FA Cup, after all!
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90 min +3: Spurs must think the whistle’s already gone, because now Newport’s first-leg hero races free on goal down the inside-right channel! But his shot is weak and straight at Vorm.
90 min +2: Corner for Newport down the right. One last holler of celebration from the home fans. McCoulsky rises high at the far post and connects with a header, but it’s blocked.
90 min: Sissoko takes a shot that flies straight up into the sky, eight miles high. It’s been that sort of evening. There will be three added minutes.
88 min: Corner for Spurs down the right. Llorente tries to win a header, but nothing’s working for him. Another corner, the second a total non-event.
87 min: Aurier breezes down the right, then checks to send Butler off to the wrong fire. He chips across for Alli, who chests down and shoots for the bottom left. Day saves well.
86 min: Walker-Peters replaces Rose.
84 min: The chances Spurs have wasted in the last few minutes! If Newport were to somehow find a goal - they’ve had one effort on target all evening - Tottenham knees might start a-knocking.
83 min: Eriksen splits Newport in half with a stunning pass down the middle of the park. He’s sent Alli scurrying towards the Newport box, free. He’s got to score, but leans back and in looking for the top right, smashes his shot off the top of the bar!
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81 min: Eriksen decides to do it himself this time, bursting down the inside right and looking to float one over Day and into the top left. Day fingertips it away marvellously.
79 min: Eriksen, quarterbacking from deep, releases Llorente into the area down the inside left. Llorente meets the dropping ball first time, creaming a shot millimetres wide of the right-hand post. That would have looked so pretty had it gone in; sadly it goes down as a bad miss. It’s a thin line.
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78 min: Alli comes on for Wanyama.
77 min: O’Brien comes on for White.
76 min: Spurs knock it around for an age. Then suddenly Lamela chips through for Llorente, who races in from the right. Llorente heads down towards the bottom left. He beates Day, but also the left-hand post. The flag goes up for offside, though Labadie was playing him on.
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73 min: Winks, deep on the right, loops long for Sissoko on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. Sissoko delivers neither cross nor shot, and he’s offside anyway.
72 min: Foyth slides into the back of Labadie, next to the left-hand corner flag. A free kick, and a chance to load the box. Willmott floats it in. Foyth heads clear. Dolan returns it. Vorm punches away from danger. A rare period of pressure applied by Newport.
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70 min: Spurs stroke it around the back awhile, happy to let the clock tick down. Newport chase and harry, but never threaten to nick the ball.
68 min: Rose bursts down the left, reaches the byline, and pulls back for Eriksen, whose first-time shot flies inches wide of the left-hand post. Spurs are beginning to seriously threaten again.
67 min: Pipe clatters clumsily into Eriksen and is lucky to escape a booking. No matter, he’s got a tight hamstring anyway, and is replaced by McCoulsky.
66 min: Spurs go straight up the other end and nearly find a third, Lamela and Llorente barrelling down the middle, Newport light at the back. Lamela enters the box one on one with Day, but slips as he tries to chip the keeper. Goal kick.
65 min: Newport are holding firm at the back - this isn’t threatening to turn into a Notts County style capitulation - but neither are they threatening to nick a goal. Dolan sends Nouble off down the left with a fine pass, but the winger runs out of space and that’s a goal kick.
62 min: Eriksen’s immediately involved, sending Llorente down the inside-left channel with a fast reverse pass, then nearly working space to shoot on the edge of the box as the move developed.
61 min: Son has been superb tonight. But his race is run. He’s replaced by Eriksen, not a bad swap at all.
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60 min: Pipe steps across Rose to win a ball near his own corner flag on the left. It’s a fairly obvious foul, though Rose makes sure with a theatrical tumble. Pipe grins at his sauce. The free kick, essentially a corner, comes to nought.
59 min: Son flicks Aurier into space down the right. A low cross leads to some pinball in the box. Newport survive. Tozer is then replaced by Dolan.
57 min: Son wins a corner down the left, though he’s crunched (fairly) by Pipe for his pains. The corner’s met by Wanyama on the penalty spot, but his down-and-up header’s straight at Day.
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55 min: Nouble jinks between Aurier and Sissoko down the left and for a second looks like breaking clear into the box. He’s eventually crowded out of it, but that was a purposeful and entertaining sortie.
54 min: Lamela curls a high one straight into the gloves of Day. There’s not much dramatic tension at Wembley, what can you do.
53 min: Sissoko romps down the right and earns another corner. Spurs take an age to load the box.
51 min: Bennett rakes a pass down the right for Amond to chase. It’s a futile gambol. Spurs go up the other end but lose control. The ball ends up at the feet of Day, who miskicks horribly, but his duffed kick somehow evades both Son and Llorente. Newport took a sharp collective intake of breath there.
50 min: Lamela dances down the middle of the park and flicks the ball to Son on his right. Son, just inside the Newport area, checks back inside and shoots hard - and straight into Demetriou.
49 min: They do nothing with it. A quiet start to the second 45.
48 min: Spurs earn the first corner of the second half down the right.
Here we go again! Tottenham start the second half. At half-time, the great Cliff Jones - an FA Cup winner in 1961, 1962 and 1967 - was presented with his 83rd birthday cake. Rose gives him a tip of the hat by going on a baroque dribble down the left wing. He gets as far as the corner of the six-yard box, but can’t fashion space to shoot, and can’t find a team-mate.
Half-time reading:
HALF TIME: Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Newport County
And that’s that for the first half. Newport started well, but Spurs turned up the heat and here we are. As things stand, the eight-time winners are off to Rochdale in the fifth round.
45 min: Nouble goes down in great pain. Understandably so: Aurier has stepped on his foot with some force as the pair contested a 50-50 ball. But it was accidental. No punishment is forthcoming.
44 min: Wanyama, perhaps encouraged by his worldie last Sunday, has another go from 30 yards. This one is a nonsense. But he’ll always have Anfield.
42 min: Nouble surges down the left in a rare Newport attack. He reaches the byline and pulls the ball back into the Spurs box. Wanyama slides in and half-sits on the ball. Labadie claims a hand ball, but he’s not getting the decision. And correctly so. The ball was nowhere near Wanyama’s hand, but dangerously close to clattering into his special place. Spurs clear. Just for a second, though, it looked as though Newport had opened the hosts up.
41 min: It’s an attack versus defence session now. Those opening exchanges seem an awfully long time ago. Son sashays in from the left and whips a fierce shot goalwards from the edge of the box. Day claims well.
39 min: Son has Pipe on toast. He zips past him with ease, reaching the byline and skelping a low ball towards Llorente at the near post. Day does extremely well to claim before the striker can flick home from close range.
37 min: Willmott is booked for bringing down a scampering Rose. A free kick just to the left of the Newport box. Son blasts it straight into the wall.
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36 min: Newport respond by winning a throw deep in Spurs territory down the left. They load the box, but it’s an exercise in futility, because Tozer loses grip of the moist ball and his throw flies harmlessly straight up into the air. Spurs clear.
GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Newport County (Lamela 34)
And now that dominance is reflected in the scoreline. Son dribbles down the inside left, drawing three Newport men towards him. He flicks inside for Lamela, who enters the box, takes a touch to the left, then gently caresses the ball past the advancing Day and into the net. A very pretty goal! Spurs will be travelling to Rochdale in the fifth round unless something very strange happens.
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33 min: Rose turns the ball inside from the left to find Llorente. The big striker shuttles it further infield instantly. Son latches onto it, and makes for the box, fizzing a fine effort just wide left. After a very slow start, Spurs are totally dominant now.
31 min: A brilliant double save by Day! First he parries a vicious volley by Lamela. Then Son picks up the rebound and tries to fire one low and hard into the bottom right corner from a tight angle. Day gets down quickly to parry that one too. Superb goalkeeping to keep Spurs from scoring what will surely be a tie-settling second.
29 min: Rose is bundled over near the Newport area again. He’s got a face on, perhaps wondering what he has to do to buy a decision. The ref’s not interested in that one either.
28 min: Rose cuts in from the left and falls to the floor in the box under pressure from Willmott. You’ve seen them given ... but not by this referee, and not by the VAR either.
27 min: The goal was fortunate, but a result of Spurs ratcheting it up a gear or two. And they’re not done yet. They win a corner down the right. The ball’s lumped into the mixer. Neither Llorente nor Winks can get on the end of it. Newport clear.
GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Newport County (Butler og 26)
When the goal came, it was a total fluke. Llorente, on the edge of the box, slips the ball wide right for Aurier, who fires it back into the box low and hard. Butler, the Phil Jones de nos jours, gets his feet all wrong, the ball clipping his heel and flying into the bottom right, his keeper going the other way in anticipation of the cross.
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24 min: Aurier floats a ball in from the right. Llorente rises to head down. Lamela, his back to goal on the edge of the six-yard box, goes for the overhead. He only manages to clatter Tozer. Spurs aren’t quite clicking yet, but finally there are signs of life up front.
22 min: It’s all a bit scrappy so far. Newport will be delighted, having denied Tottenham any rhythm. A sudden burst as Son lays off to the right for Sissoko, who hits deep towards Rose coming in from the other flank. Rose rustles the side netting with a volley. It’s the closest Spurs have come so far.
20 min: Winks has injured himself while sliding in for a loose ball with Nouble. The Newport man didn’t make a move towards his opponent, it was all Winks’ own doing. Looks like he’ll be OK, but for a second Winks was grimacing quite a lot. Relief for Spurs.
18 min: Spurs win their first corner of the evening out on the left. The ball ends up on the other flank, where Aurier tries to tear into space. He’s upended by Nouble. A free kick, and it probably should be a booking, but the Newport man gets away with it. The set piece comes to nothing, Demetriou dealing with the high ball.
17 min: Wanyama strokes a ball down the inside-left channel for Sissoko, who strides into the box. Pipe comes across him, a 50-50 challenge which causes Sissoko to stumble. He tries to stay on his feet but eventually goes over. There’s a half-hearted claim for a penalty, but there’s nothing doing.
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15 min: Bennett wedges a pass down the left for Amond. Foyth should usher the ball out for a goal kick, but Amond is such a nuisance that Foyth is panicked into playing it, and nearly concedes a corner, then possession. He eventually clears. Newport are contesting everything, and at the moment Spurs aren’t 100 percent comfortable with all the attention.
13 min: Now there’s a long throw lanced into the Spurs box from the right. Demetriou wins the header, but it floats harmlessly into the arms of Vorm. It’s a really bright start by the League Two side, this.
12 min: Willmott, out on the right, swings a high ball into the Spurs area. Amond rises above Alderweireld and Foyth, blasting his header well over the bar from eight yards. He’d have surely been flagged offside had he got that on target. Even so, that’s very promising for Newport, who don’t look cowed by Wembley at all.
10 min: Son again troubles Pipe down the left. He squeaks a shot towards the bottom left. Day should gather, but fumbles nervously. Pipe just about hacks clear with Son still hovering. Neither team have quite found their rhythm yet, though you can bet your bottom dollar Newport are the happier right now.
8 min: Willmott blooters the free kick straight into the Spurs wall. What a waste.
7 min: The travelling fans continue to fill Wembley with FA Cup noise. Spurs really haven’t settled. Foyth plays a hospital pass to Wanyama. Labadie nips in. Wanyama is forced to bring him down, 25 yards from goal. That’ll be a booking for the Spurs man.
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5 min: Vorm faffs about with the ball at his feet, and Amond very nearly embarrasses him with his high-energy press. Just for a second ... just for a second ... but the ball’s whacked away from the danger zone soon enough. Newport are impressively on the front foot in these early stages. They haven’t let Spurs settle. Yet.
3 min: And now Spurs launch their first attack. Sissoko strokes the ball wide left for Son, who seriously worries a frantically backtracking Pipe with a tricky jig down the flank. But Pipe does just about enough. Son enters the area and lashes a wild effort high and wide from a tight angle.
2 min: Newport are pressing Spurs hard. Amond, the goalscorer in the original tie, finds a bit of space down the left but his cross is aimless and easily cleared by Alderweireld, who eases himself back into first-team action.
And we’re off! Newport get the ball rolling. Their 7,500-strong support are giving it plenty. And their team have managed to hold out for longer than Manchester United did the other week. So that’s one box ticked already.
The teams are out! Spurs wear lilywhite and blue, Newport gold and black. Wembley isn’t quite at capacity, but the Newport fans are here in number. And there’s a fine FA Cup atmosphere regardless. We’ll be off in a minute!
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A clean-shaven Mauricio Pochettino speaks ahead of his 200th game as Spurs boss. “This is why I look so fresh! It is amazing to be here for 200 games, I hope to be here for many more. It is so important for us, this game. Newport deserve to be here because they were good in the first game. But now it is important for us to get to the next stage. If you see our starting XI, nine players have played in the Champions League. It is a very competitive team. They are ready to fight for a place in other competitions too.”
Tottenham make six changes to the XI named at Rodney Parade a couple of weekends ago. The new faces: Serge Aurier, Toby Alderweireld, Danny Rose, Harry Winks, Erik Lamela and Heung-Min Son. Making way: Kieran Trippier, Jan Vertonghen, Kyle Walker-Peters, Eric Dier, Mousa Dembele and Harry Kane. Alderweireld is making his first appearance since early November, when Spurs saw off Real Madrid.
Newport however are operating an if-it-ain’t-broke policy. No changes to the team that came so close of knocking Spurs out. They’ve earned a run-out at Wembley.
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The teams
Tottenham Hotspur: Vorm, Aurier, Alderweireld, Foyth, Rose, Wanyama, Winks, Sissoko, Lamela, Son, Llorente.
Subs: Gazzaniga, Trippier, Sanchez, Walker-Peters, Eriksen, Alli, Kane.
Newport County: Day, Pipe, White, Demetriou, Butler, Tozer, Bennett, Labadie, Willmott, Nouble, Amond.
Subs: Bittner, Dolan, McCoulsky, Reid, O’Brien, Sheehan, Hayes.
Referee: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire).
VAR: Fresh out of the box and plugged in, ready to go.
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Preamble
Newport County have defeated top-flight opposition in fourth-round-replay business before. Back in 1949, they travelled to Leeds Road, home of struggling First Division outfit Huddersfield Town, as a Third Division (South) side and won 3-1. Eddie Carr - who had made a fleeting contribution to Arsenal’s 1937-38 title win - was Newport’s two-goal hero, though this is an upset that’s been somewhat overshadowed historically by non-league Yeovil’s famous win over Len Shackelton’s Sunderland, a seismic shock that had occurred seven days previously (and from which the Black Cats have arguably still not recovered, though that’s a discussion for another day).
Anyway, so Newport have form. They also - perhaps more pertinently, we’ll admit - very nearly turned Spurs over at Rodney Parade a couple of Saturdays ago. Newport were eight minutes away from recording the biggest shock in years, thanks to Pádraig Amond’s first-half header. But Harry Kane spoilt the party, and here we all are today, back at Wembley.
Given that Spurs are one of the best teams in Europe, have lifted the FA Cup eight times, have won five of their last eight games at Wembley by at least three goals, and are coming off the back of a dominant performance at Anfield, Newport’s history - both the 1949 and 27 January 2018 variety - might not count for much. The Exiles are a mere 33-1 to win tonight, while Spurs are 11-1 on. Chances are, this’ll be a cakewalk for hot-shot Tottenham. But it is the FA Cup, and very strange things can happen. Either way, tonight’s entertainment should be something to behold. The winner travels to Rochdale in the fifth round. It’s on!
Kick off: 7.45pm.
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