And with that, I’m off. Bye!
Frank Lampard is not entirely discouraged by what he saw tonight. He says Timo Werner would have taken a penalty, but had suffered from cramp late in the game:
You lose on penalties, anything can happen at that stage. You want to stay in these competitions of course but there were some really good bits in there. The first half performance was as much domination as you can get in terms of possession and some really good play. We want to create more chances yes but Tottenham were out of the game. In the second half they messed our game up a bit, went longer, missed out our press, and the game changed. I’m happy with bits, but with the control we had we want to score more goals. When people go long and miss your press out and turn you round the other way, it’s not easy to get the fluidity and rhythm that we had in the first half. And it was a clear change of tactic from them, and that’s something we need to deal with better.
As for the Tottenham goal, you imagine a defender or two - Emerson’s positioning was particularly poor - will not have heard the last of it:
It was frustrating, because it’s a thing we work on, defending our box. We did it well against Brighton and against Liverpool for most of that game, Mane scores a goal that’s very difficult to stop. Today we were doing it well but you sleep for one minute, if you don’t recover and defend a zone where people score goals then you’re going to concede. So players have to get better at that.
David Hytner has filed his match report from White Hart Lane:
Tottenham advanced in dramatic style to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals after a late Erik Lamela equaliser forced penalties – and he and his teammates duly kept their nerves from the spot. It was no more than they deserved.
José Mourinho had said he would “like to fight for the Carabao Cup but I don’t think I can.” It was Spurs’s fifth game in 12 days and the sixth will come on Thursday – the Europa League play-off against Maccabi Haifa; a game of vital importance to the club’s finances. This one was the one that had to give; to be sacrificed. But as Mourinho made nine changes from Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Newcastle, Spurs did fight.
Much more here:
Eric Dier speaks about what was a tiring and interesting evening for him:
I’m so, so happy. I’m really proud with the way we played, apart from the first 15, 20 minutes when we gave them way too much time on the ball. After that I thought we were fantastic for the rest of the game. After playing on Sunday and then tonight, it wasn’t easy. I think maybe that was one of the reasons I had to leave the pitch midway through the second half.
On being chased into the dressing-room by Mourinho in the middle of the second half:
He wasn’t happy but there was nothing I could do about it really. Nature was calling. I heard there was a chance when I wasn’t on the pitch but thankfully they didn’t score and we ended up with the win.
Jose Mourinho is very happy.
I told before the game that we would be ready to fight, and we were ready to fight. I told the players before the penalties, I don’t care about the penalties, I care about what they did. They were the best team. They were magnificent. Second half, a super team like Chelsea looked a very ordinary team, and they are not. We played so, so well. The team managed to wait for the right moment. I told the players, they should only think about this game, but I have to think about three games at the same time. And they thought only about this game. They were phenomenal. All the credit for the boys. I cannot believe that in 48 hours we are playing a European game. The boys were phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal. I don’t care about the penalties.
What happened to Eric Dier is not normal, I have to praise him in a special way, but the football authorities, with so many rules that are in place, should have forbidden a player to play in 48 hours two matches, of this intensity. Because Newcastle was a Premier League match, and this was let’s say a Premier League match level. What Eric Dier did is not human to do. They have so many rules about everything, but Eric Dier did what he did. [He confirms that Dier will not play on Thursday, as a result of tonight’s efforts]
All the other boys, they were phenomenal. We used boys, first minute for the season. Tanganga, not even a friendly. I decided Hugo not Joe, just to give a sign to my team that we are here to win. I wanted a captain on the pitch, the first goalkeeper on the pitch, but everything was up to them. I have an incredible negative record on shootouts but today I had a feeling everything was going well, because by far we were the best team and by far the boys deserved to win this match.
Erik Lamela has spoken! He’s been wearing odd boots - Adidas are making a new boot for his right foot, which is due to arrive tomorrow, but until then he’s having to make do with what he’s got. In other news:
Thank you so much, we are very happy to win this game. It means a lot to us. The first half was difficult, they managed a lot the ball. The second half we pressed higher and could get the ball and start to play like we wanted. In the end we could draw the game. On penalties, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, the most important is the effort. I always believed in myself, in the team. We always wanted to win the game. Until the end, you never know. We fought until the end and got the draw to go to penalties. Everyone shot very well, honestly this team really wanted to win so I’m very happy and now I want to enjoy it with my teammates.
A bit of late-night transfer news while we wait for the managers:
Replays show the ball clipped the outside of the post, so Lloris doesn’t get the credit. Tottenham celebrated that victory with the enthusiasm of a side really very happy to still be in this competition.
Updated
Mount misses! Spurs go through!
Mount sidefoots to his left, and Lloris flings himself to the right! Does he get a fingernail on it to divert it round the post, or was it already heading that way? Either way, Spurs are in the quarter-finals!
Updated
Penalty shootout: Tottenham 5-4 Chelsea!
This time Mendy goes low to his right - and so does Harry Kane! Into sudden death we go!
Penalty shootout: Tottenham 4-4 Chelsea!
Emerson goes - you’ll never guess - low to the left, as does Lloris. Again, very saveable had the keeper not gone the wrong way.
Penalty shootout: Tottenham 4-3 Chelsea!
Low to the left again from Lucas Moura, and off in the wrong direction again from Mendy! Another excellent penalty, just inside the post.
Penalty shootout: Tottenham 3-3 Chelsea!
Jorginho executes his trademark skip before, in a shock twist, going low to his right. Lloris goes the right way, but can’t get anything on it!
Updated
Penalty shootout: Tottenham 3-2 Chelsea!
Hojbjerg has learned what appears to be working tonight, and goes low to his left while Mendy goes the other way. A fine penalty, this one, into the side netting.
Penalty shootout: Tottenham 2-2 Chelsea!
Azpilicueta also goes to his left, but he at least hits the ball of the ground. Lloris goes the wrong way.
Penalty shootout: Tottenham 2-1 Chelsea!
And again! This time it’s Lamela, a very stoppable penalty had Mendy not gone the other way.
Updated
Penalty shootout: Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea!
Pretty much an instant replay here, with Tammy Abraham and Lloris both going low to their left.
Penalty shootout: Tottenham 1-0 Chelsea!
Dier goes low to his left, Mendy does likewise, and the ball nestles in the net.
Tottenham will take the first penalty, and Eric Dier will get the ball rolling.
Spurs have lost their last three penalty shootouts, not including their memorable victory on the way to that famous Audi Cup win #THFC #COYS
— Jonathan Veal (@jonathandveal83) September 29, 2020
Hugo Lloris runs off to the touchline where Nuno Santos, Tottenham’s goalkeeping coach, seems to be helping him with some key last-minute revision.
Interesting body language here from the two managers. Mourinho congratulates his players on a job well done, Lampard seems to be gutted his side are in this position. Meanwhile, all eyes turn to Edouard Mendy. Just how well is his debut going to end?
Final score: Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea
90+4 mins: Chelsea eventually decide there’s nothing to be lost by trying to get into Tottenham’s penalty area, at which point they lose the ball, and that’s the last significant action (bar the penalties).
90+2 mins: Chelsea have the ball, and appear happy to keep it until the referee blows his whistle.
90+1 mins: Into stoppage time, of which there’ll be three minutes or so. They start with Kante trying to dance into a shooting position inside the penalty area, and failing.
87 mins: Spurs push for a second, but Lamela’s shot is bocked by Emerson.
85 mins: We are now five minutes from a penalty shootout situation.
GOAL! Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea (Lamela, 84 mins)
And from the free-kick (vaguely) Spurs equalise! The ball is played long to Reguilon, whose cross finds its way through to Lamela at the far post, who takes a touch and turns it in!
Updated
83 mins: Jorginho gets himself booked for tripping Ndombele. “Tottenham’s passes and dribbles into the box are characterised by a well-known pandemic impact - too many Zouma meetings,” writes our resident punmeister, Peter Oh.
81 mins: Chance! Lamela sends Kane running down the right. He cuts inside Tomori, but scoops his left-footer over the bar!
79 mins: Chelsea should score this! Mount runs through on the left, Werner offers him an option to the right, and Dier, back from the toilet, is the only defender around to deal with them. Mount goes for the pass but hits the ball straight into Dier!
79 mins: Non-league football fans may appreciate this update from Lewes:
Worthing now one up, extra man advantage showing @Simon_Burnton rare Lewes attack pic.twitter.com/XOVlAaUHEY
— martinjbrowni (@martinjbrowni) September 29, 2020
77 mins: Hudson-Odoi has a chance, but shoots wide from 20 yards! Meanwhile Dier has left the pitch and gone to the dressing-room, and Mourinho has stomped off after him! This is either massive fallout-related or toilet-related, but my money’s on the latter.
Another touchline row developing... Dier storms down the tunnel after being subbed. Mourinho screams "Eric" after him and has now gone to the dressing room to fetch him!
— John Cross (@johncrossmirror) September 29, 2020
76 mins: A bit more substitutional action, with Lucas Moura replacing Bergwijn and Tammy Abraham coming on for Giroud.
73 mins: Bergwijn is tackled by Kante 15 yards outside his own penalty area and the ball swiftly worked to Werner, who takes a touch and slashes a vicious low shot a bit too close to Lloris.
72 mins: Since half-time Spurs have had 54% of possession and lead 6-1 on shots. There’s only one stat that matters, etc.
71 mins: Half a chance! Aurier crosses from the right, and Reguilon comes in from the left to meet it beyond the far post and send a diving header even further beyond the far post.
70 mins: Chelsea bring Kante on for Kovacic, and Spurs bring Harry Kane on for Tanganga. Perhaps this will please Rob more than their last substitution: “Hojbjerg for Gedson down 0-1 in the 60th minute with two defenders on yellow,” he wrote. “Jose Mourinho everybody.”
69 mins: Spurs win a corner, and Mendy comes off his line to claim it but fluffs his catch. The ball slips through his hands, but luckily the player standing behind him is wearing blue.
Updated
67 mins: Spurs attack down the right, and then again down the left, but Chelsea hold firm on the edge of their area.
66 mins: Chelsea make their first change, bringing Emerson on for Chilwell.
64 mins: Now Sissoko is found in a shooting position outside the penalty area, but his control is so useless it pretty much amounts to a pass to Zouma, who boots clear.
62 mins: Mount is down again, but this time doesn’t get a free-kick for it. Quite right too, as he slipped and headbutted Gedson’s forearm in the act of falling over, and then when he landed he held his face as if the Spurs player had done something wrong. Gedson is promptly taken off, with Hojbjerg coming on.
61 mins: Tanganga hilariously yanks Mount back by the waist, a comedy exaggerated pull, and is booked for it.
59 mins: Aurier gives the ball away with a poor pass from the right, and in his desperation to make amends he takes out Jorginho with a late tackle and is booked.
57 mins: Spurs hit another long ball, this time to Lamela, who troubles Tomori but eventually fouls him. The home side are finding some success both down the flanks and long down the middle.
55 mins: Spurs keep pressing, this time down the left. Bergwijn gets into the box, but Tomori pokes the ball away from him and behind for a corner.
53 mins: Bergwijn messes up an easy pass again, this time hitting it too far in front of Ndombele, who would have had a free shot on goal from 20 yards. It runs to Aurier, who cuts inside and sends a low left-footer trundling well wide.
50 mins: Chance! And a save! Aurier gets down the right before playing the ball across goal, and it runs to Reguilon on the far side of goal, whose shot is well struck and on target, but too close to Mendy, who saves.
Updated
50 mins: Bergwijn cuts in from the right before blasting a shot that screams way high of goal.
48 mins: A very positive start to the half from Spurs, who have had almost all of the possession but haven’t really tested the Chelsea defence.
46 mins: Peeeeeeep! Chelsea start the second half.
Jose Mourinho comes out for the second half, in advance of his players. Word is there will be no halftimely substitutions, which means Harry Kane’s sock-fiddling was purely cosmetic.
A decent game, that has potential for further improvement in the second half. One thing I didn’t mention was a bit of touchline verbals between the managers. It was hard to make out what either of them was saying, but it didn’t seem that friendly. “Is nobody gonna talk about that little tit for tat between Mourinho and Lampard earlier? This is gonna make for a fun post match press conference,” says Benjamin Park.
Half time at the Dripping Pan, Lewes down to 10 men but holding their own. Could be a long 2nd half. @LewesFCMen @Simon_Burnton PS just sold a pen on eBay so having an extra round of chips!
— martinjbrowni (@martinjbrowni) September 29, 2020
Half time: Tottenham 0-1 Chelsea
45+3 mins: We have had half of the time, and the away side is winning. In case anyone has invested emotionally, it’s 1-1 at the Dripping Pan.
⏸ #HalfTime@LewesFCMen 1-1 Worthing
— Worthing FC (@WorthingFC) September 29, 2020
We head into the break all square after a scrappy half. Golding had put us ahead early on, but a fortunate goal levelled the tie for the 10-man hosts.#LEWWOR | #WeAreWorthing 🐟🔴 pic.twitter.com/2L1ltncO7q
45+2 mins: Werner gives the ball away, Kovacic brings Lamela down rather than let Spurs break, and he gets the night’s first booking.
Updated
45+1 mins: There’ll be a couple of minutes of stoppage time.
45 mins: Chelsea pass the ball about for a while before eventually humping it long to Giroud, who is all on his own and unable to flick on to himself. “Regarding your suggestion that Bale is texting (4 mins), I think you’ll find he’s playing golf,” writes Ian Copestake (and several others).
42 mins: Bergwijn has a chance to tee up Gedson for a shot, but he doesn’t take it, and gives the ball back to Chelsea instead.
41 mins: Harry Kane appears to be pulling his socks up, in the literal sense. Might Mourinho be tempted into a pre-half-timely substitution?
40 mins: Chelsea are now passing the ball around their defence again.
37 mins: Spurs have been showing a lot more attacking intent these last 10 minutes or so, and have seen enough of the ball to now be credited with 32% of possession overall.
34 mins: Save! An excellent turn by Lamela buys him some space in the penalty area, but Mendy saves his slightly deflected left-footer.
30 mins: Hudson-Odoi is played through, keeps the ball despite falling over, and then chips the ball across to Werner, but the German’s chest control takes him away from goal, and he’s forced to turn back.
28 mins: Nope, he’s stayed on, despite another pause while Kurt Zouma recovers from a heavy fall.
26 mins: Eric Dier goes down, goes off, receives some brief treatment, comes back on, and now seems to be going off again.
24 mins: Reguilon sends in an excellent cross from deep, but it’s headed clear. The left-back made two significant mistakes in the build-up to Chelsea’s goal, and might feel he’s got some making up to do.
23 mins: Chance for Spurs! Gedson nips in front of Zouma and runs into the area, but as Mendy comes off his line Zouma does well to get back and block the shot, and when Gedson stumbles as he tries to reach the rebound the chance is lost!
Updated
GOAL! Tottenham 0-1 Chelsea (Werner, 19 mins)
That’s superbly taken! Reguilon gives the ball away in midfield and Chelsea attack down his left flank. He sprints back to close down Azpilicueta and then slides past him comically as the right-back checks his run, and his low cross reaches Werner, who has pulled to the edge of the area, and he hits a lovely low shot through a group of players and just inside the post!
Updated
17 mins: Chelsea have had 80% of possession so far, and now they’ve had a chance as well! A cross from the left reaches Hudson-Odoi, but his left-footed half-volley is a bit weak, and almost totally straight at Lloris, and is therefore saved.
15 mins: Nathan Stroomberg is Lewes’ goalkeeper, as you may have gathered. Meanwhile at Spurs Lamela tackles Jorginho, who tackles him back, but is tackled back again.
13 mins: An update from Martin Brown! At the Dripping Pan, as Lewes’ stadium is magnificently called, the home side are down to 10 men!
13 ' | RED CARD.
— Lewes FC Men (@LewesFCMen) September 29, 2020
Rooks down to ten men here as Stroomberg is judged to have handled outside the area...#Rooks [0-0]
11 mins: Chelsea pass the ball around for a while, mainly to Tomori. They’ve had about 30 passes so far and are yet to cross the halfway line.
7 mins: A slightly messy start, from both teams. “I counted the letters and Alderweireld is an even bigger name than the impressive Azpilicueta,” writes Peter Oh. “Don’t believe Jose’s mind games. Spurs are here to compete and win.”
5 mins: Hudson-Odoi significantly overhits a cross, but Chilwell keeps it in and passes back to Werner, who also overhits his cross, slightly less significantly. Goal kick.
4 mins: Gareth Bale is at the ground, but is mainly texting rather than watching the football. I suppose he’s sat and watched quite a lot of football of late.
1 min: Peeeeep! Spurs get the game started! But Lee Mason isn’t happy about it, so we all have to do it again. Peeeeeep! Spurs get the game started!
Out come the players! Actual football in just a jiffy.
Frank Lampard isn’t surprised to see a few big names in the Spurs side:
I was never taken in by Jose yesterday talking about how they wouldn’t compete - that’s a team to compete. They’ve got a very strong squad here and they’ve added to that in this window. We knew they could pick a lot of players who maybe weren’t involved at the weekend or won’t be involved on Thursday. We expected a strong team and we got that.
Martin Brown emails from an actual football stadium, where an actual crowd is watching actual football. It’s Lewes v Worthing. “450 sold out crowd for this Sussex derby,” he brags. “Social distancing going well!”
More from Jose Mourinho’s pre-match chat:
We are going to fight. We don’t have the same conditions as others, but we are going to fight for sure. I don’t like at all to go to the next round without playing. Unfortunately, also for us but especially for Leyton Orient, we didn’t play that game which makes me sad about it. But today we don’t have the same conditions as our opponent, not just the fact we played Sunday and they played Saturday, we play after tomorrow a very important game for our season, both for the sports side and also the economical side. So we don’t have the same ammunition as they have, but yes, we’re going to fight.
Jose Mourinho says “nobody” is going to play at centre-forward - “today we don’t have a nine” - and refuses to talk about Dele Alli: “I’m not going to speak about players who are not here. Are you going to ask Frank, no Thiago Silva, is it because of the mistake he made or another reason?”
A little pre-match news from another Premier League team:
Those teams in full, in totally textual form:
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Alderweireld, Dier, Tanganga, Aurier, Fernandes, Ndombele, Sissoko, Reguilon, Bergwijn, Lamela. Subs: Doherty, Hojbjerg, Sanchez, Kane, Hart, Lucas Moura, Davies.
Chelsea: Mendy, Azpilicueta, Tomori, Zouma, Chilwell, Jorginho, Kovacic, Hudson-Odoi, Mount, Werner, Giroud. Subs: Arrizabalaga, Kante, Barkley, Abraham, James, Havertz, Emerson Palmieri.
Referee: Lee Mason.
PA Media have filed a little team-news reaction update latest:
Dele Alli was again left out of Tottenham’s squad for the Carabao Cup against Chelsea. Alli has only featured in two of Spurs’s six games so far this season as his future at the club looks bleak. Sergio Reguilon was handed a debut as Jose Mourinho made nine changes from the side that drew with Newcastle. Chelsea named a strong line-up as goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was given a debut, while Ben Chilwell made his first start at left-back.
And here’s the Spurs line-up. As trailed, it’s a stronger side than might have been anticipated:
📋 Lloris (C), Alderweireld, Dier, Tanganga, Aurier, Gedson, Ndombele, Sissoko, Reguilon, Bergwijn, Lamela.
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 29, 2020
📲 @WilliamHill latest (18+)https://t.co/dqD0fGMX3J#THFC ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/2mDywMt9cX
Chelsea’s line-up is more than decent, with a debut for Mendy and a first start for Chilwell. I haven’t seen Tottenham’s yet.
Here's our team for #TOTCHE! 💪 pic.twitter.com/ZRXnr77qqR
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 29, 2020
Squad news should be incoming in a couple of minutes, but word on the street is that Tottenham are actually going to field a pretty strong team. We’ll find out just how strong in a short while.
Hello world!
Well, here’s another nice mess they’ve gotten themselves into. To recap: Spurs reached the fourth round of the Carabao Cup after Leyton Orient were thrown out of the competition for testing their players and finding that some of them were Covid-positive, and will now proceed to throw themselves out of the competition. Really, irrespective of the fairness of their punishment (for the record, not very), Orient should be playing this game, one which they might actually relish. Instead here Spurs are, stuck in a competition they can’t compete in, playing a game they don’t need, just 48 hours before Maccabi Haifa turn up for a probably-more-important-on-balance Europa League play-off, with an also-more-important-on-balance league match against Manchester United to follow at the weekend.
“I would like to fight for the Carabao but I don’t think I can,” scowled Jose Mourinho. “The group phase of the Europa League gives us a certain amount of money that for a club like us is very important. I think the EFL made a decision for us. They didn’t even create a problem - they made a decision. So that’s the decision.”
“I know they have a busy week this week but when I analyse Tottenham and know the squad they have, they have a fantastic squad,” says Frank Lampard. “So any squad Jose puts out can be very strong. I think we all know the Carabao Cup, for teams like ourselves and Tottenham that are challenging for the top four and Champions League, the Carabao Cup does have its place but we certainly respect it and every tournament we go in we try to win.”
This evening I fear will be one where neither side wins, but one fails to lose.
