David Hytner was our man at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium tonight. His report has landed, and here it is. Thanks for reading this MBM. Stay safe and warm, everyone, and have a lovely Christmas. Nighty night!
Semi-final draw
Arsenal v Liverpool
Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur
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Antonio Conte, who will be returning to his former club in the semis, delivers his verdict to Sky. “It’s good for Tottenham to reach the semi-final of this competition. You can see the name of the teams that reach this semi, it means every club wants to try to lift this trophy. I remember in the past, this trophy was used to play with young players, but now I’m seeing to win a trophy in England is very difficult. West Ham have beaten United and City. In England it is very difficult to win something!”
A disappointed David Moyes talks to Sky. “The players showed great determination and character. They put in a brilliant effort. In my mind, there was a couple of really poor bits of defending which gave them the opportunity to score. It was self-inflicted. We were unfortunate that a couple of big chances didn’t go in. It was a tough game and we let ourselves down on a couple of incidents in the first half, but overall the players did a great job.”
The semi-final draw
Arsenal v Liverpool
Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur
Ties to be played week commencing January 3, with the second leg coming a week later.
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The draw. Jamie Redknapp and Michael Dawson will make it. Hopefully they’ll be a lot quicker - and prove significantly less inept - than the light-entertainment legends at Uefa. Here we go, then!
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are the four semi-finalists, then. Draw coming up soon!
Tonight's results
- Brentford 0-2 Chelsea (Jansson og 80, Jorginho 85 pen)
- Liverpool 3-3 Leicester City (Oxlade-Chamberlain 19, Jota 68, Minamino 90+5; Vardy 9 13, Maddison 33) - Liverpool win 5-4 on penalties
- Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 West Ham United (Bergwijn 29, Moura 34; Bowen 32)
PENS: Liverpool 5-4 Leicester. Jota has a chance to win it for Liverpool. He takes his time before slotting calmly into the bottom left. Liverpool, having been 0-2 and 1-3 down, are through to the semis! Caoimhin Kelleher and, despite his penalty miss, Takumi Minamino the heroes! Liverpool 3-3 Leicester City; Liverpool win 5-4 on pens.
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PENS: Liverpool 4-4 Leicester. Bertrand has to wait an age for the ball. Eventually a new one arrives. Boos ring out around Anfield ... and they rock Bertrand, who rolls a poor effort towards the bottom right, Kelleher clawing away.
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PENS: Liverpool 4-4 Leicester. Minamino, who scored that last-gasp equaliser, blazes over! The ball twangs off the top of the crossbar and out! What drama here!
PENS: Liverpool 4-4 Leicester. Iheanacho has to score to keep Leicester alive. He roofs a brilliant one. Can Schmeichel perform similar heroics?
PENS: Liverpool 4-3 Leicester. Keita goes high and left, and Schmeichel has no chance.
PENS: Liverpool 3-3 Leicester. Thomas goes for the bottom right, but doesn’t get enough pace on it. Kelleher guesses correctly and palms away from goal. Advantage Liverpool.
PENS: Liverpool 3-3 Leicester. Oxlade-Chamberlain takes a while to sort himself out. He eventually places the ball and whacks one into the bottom left. Schmeichel guesses correctly again, but can’t get there.
PENS: Liverpool 2-3 Leicester. Albrighton slams one down the middle, Kelleher diving out of the road.
PENS: Liverpool 2-2 Leicester. Firmino stutters and slots into the bottom right. Schmeichel guesses correctly but can’t reach.
PENS: Liverpool 1-2 Leicester. Maddison lashes one past Kelleher, high and down the middle.
PENS: Liverpool 1-1 Leicester. Milner whistles Liverpool’s first penalty into the bottom right, sending Schmeichel the wrong way.
PENS: Liverpool 0-1 Leicester. Tielemans whips an unstoppable one into the top left.
It’s full time at Anfield. Liverpool and Leicester City, with 11 League Cup titles between them, will take penalty kicks for a place in the semi-finals. Who’ll join Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur in the last four? We’ll find out in short order. Liverpool 3-3 Leicester City.
Liverpool have equalised in the fifth minute of stoppage time at Anfield! Takumi Minamino gets on the end of James Milner’s hail-mary pass, and volleys into the corner. It looks as though it’ll be penalties, unless there’s even more drama coming up. Liverpool 3-3 Leicester City.
Chelsea are the third team from London in the semi-final draw. They’ve beaten Brentford with a couple of late goals. Brentford 0-2 Chelsea.
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FULL TIME: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 West Ham United
... West Ham’s dreams fade and die. Areola comes up for the corner, and even wins a header, but Lloris snaffles it, and that is that. Spurs are through to the semi-finals!
90 min +3: Fornals jinks down the inside-right channel and takes a pop from just inside the box. The ball takes a deflection and loops hysterically over Lloris ... but onto the bar and out for a corner. From which ...
90 min +2: West Ham can’t get anything going, Spurs closing all the gaps.
90 min +1: The Spurs fans are giving it plenty. So close to the semis now.
90 min: David Moyes isn’t happy with Tottenham’s unwillingness to restart the game quickly, and complains to the fourth official. His team will only have three extra minutes to save themselves.
89 min: Hojbjerg has a little sit down for a while. Some sly clock management.
88 min: West Ham are knocking it around nicely, but there are no gaps emerging in the Spurs defence. After a while, the Spurs press pushes the Hammers all the way back to their own box. Time ticks on.
86 min: West Ham have enjoyed 89 percent possession in the last ten minutes. Spurs are unquestionably in hold-what-you’ve-got mode.
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85 min: Out west, Jorginho makes it two for Chelsea from the spot, Alvaro Fernandez having taken down Christian Pulisic. Brentford 0-2 Chelsea.
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84 min: Rice dribbles down the inside-left channel and forces a corner. Fornals takes. The ball breaks to Benrahma, whose shot is immediately blocked. Yarmolenko loops in a cross from the right. Spurs get it clear. The hosts are holding on a bit now.
83 min: Spurs swap Reguilon and Doherty for Royal and Tanganga.
81 min: Chelsea have taken the lead at Brentford, Pontus Jansson slicing Reece James’ low right-wing into his own net. Brentford 0-1 Chelsea.
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80 min: Ashby, who has put in a decent shift down the right flank, is replaced by Yarmolenko, who immediately gets involved. He rolls a pass in from the right for Benrahma, who takes a touch to tee himself up and creams a low diagonal shot across Lloris and inches wide of the left-hand post. What a goal that would have been!
79 min: Soucek swings one in from the right. The ball flies through to Masuaku, who delivers from the left. Spurs half clear. Benrahma has another look from 25 yards, and sends one straight down Lloris’s throat. West Ham are edging a little closer, though.
77 min: Skipp is replaced by Alli.
76 min: West Ham push Spurs back a little, the home team not helping themselves by giving the ball away cheaply a couple of times. Spurs restrict Benrahma to a speculative drive, but this is better from the visitors.
74 min: Kane latches onto a loose ball, 40 yards from goal. He romps towards the West Ham box, with options either side and West Ham light at the back. He slips infield for Son, who is clear in the box! But he takes an uncharacteristically heavy touch, allowing the ball to run through to Areola. What a chance that was to effectively close this out. West Ham breathe again.
72 min: Liverpool have closed the gap at Anfield again. Takumi Minamino plays Diogo Jota into the box with a reverse pass down the inside-left channel, and the in-form Portuguese striker makes no mistake. Liverpool 2-3 Leicester City.
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70 min: Dawson clips Kane’s heel. Kane sits on the grass and moans a lot, then takes an age to put his boot back on. A masterclass in running down the clock.
69 min: West Ham make a double change. Lanzini and Vlasic are replaced by Benrahma and Fornals. Benrahma is immediately in the thick of the action, taking down Ashby’s right-wing cross, swivelling, and hoicking over the bar from 12 yards. He probably should have laid off to Fornals, though you can’t really criticise a striker for taking that on.
67 min: Reguilon stands one up from the left. Skipp battles to get a head on the ball, six yards from goal, but is crowded out. Only just. Spurs so close to what would surely be a clincher.
66 min: Both teams take turns to pass the ball around in the centre of the park. Neither achieve much, though Spurs are 120 seconds closer to the semi-final draw.
64 min: Doherty, Son and Skipp combine crisply down the right. They don’t quite manage to open West Ham up, but they paint some pretty triangles, and the crowd enjoy the passage of play. It’s not taken Conte long to get a tune out of Spurs, has it.
62 min: Son’s first act is to slip a pass down the right for Doherty, whose cross is blocked at close range by Masuaku. Doherty wants the penalty, but he’s not getting one, the ball having clanked into Masuaku’s chest before skimming off his arm. There’s no way that’s a penalty, though Conte doesn’t share that opinion, and dances around the dugout in disgust.
61 min: A double change for Spurs, as Bergwijn and Moura are replaced by Son and Winks.
59 min: Ashby throws himself into the back of Reguilon, hoping to win a cheap penalty. All it leads to is Hojbjerg getting right up in his grille. The pair are pulled apart before things can properly escalate.
58 min: Lanzini launches long down the middle. Bowen latches onto it and enters the box, bursting between Dier and Davies. Lloris is out quickly, though, and spreads himself at his feet, tipping the ball off his toe, just in time. Great play all round.
56 min: Masuaku crosses from the left. Davies is forced to turn the ball behind under pressure from Bowen. Moura clears Lanzini’s corner. West Ham have enjoyed 65 percent of possession since the restart. Spurs seem happy enough to hold their shape, though, and they’re doing it well.
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54 min: Doherty crosses low from the right. The ball balloons up onto Moura’s arm. Free kick. Shame for Spurs, because Moura was clear, ten yards out, had he managed to control properly.
53 min: Masuaku’s free kick is clanked clear by Davies. Lanzini floats a speculative ball back into the box. Easy for Lloris. A poor set piece by West Ham’s high standards.
52 min: Hojbjerg clips Lanzini, and it’s a free kick out on the left for West Ham. Everyone lines up on the edge of the Spurs box in anticipation.
50 min: Skipp has a whack from distance. The ball takes a huge deflection off Bergwijn and nearly flies into the bottom right, Areola rooted to the spot. But it flies wide. Spurs have launched themselves into this second half.
48 min: Bergwijn dribbles in from the left and nearly sends Kane clear again, but his dinked pass into the box is read by Rice, who intercepts and strides calmly away.
47 min: Soucek is caught late by Skipp, who is fairly lucky not to go into the book for his ungainly lunge.
46 min: Bergwijn’s shake and shimmy draws two defenders, and he nearly releases Kane down the middle. A bit too much on the pass forward, and Areola is able to claim. What a start to the half that could have been.
West Ham get the second half underway. No changes.
Half-time entertainment.
The half-time scores in the other two quarter-finals.
- Brentford 0-0 Chelsea
- Liverpool 1-3 Leicester City (Oxlade-Chamberlain 19; Vardy 9 13, Maddison 33)
HALF TIME: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 West Ham United
This is a great cup tie, and while only one team will be pleased with the scoreline, both will be happy with their performance. More soon!
45 min +2: Kane bustles his way into the box down the right. He’s lightly clipped and considers going down, but stays on his feet and hits a low cross-cum-shot that Areola has to tip away from the lurking Bergwijn.
45 min: Some good work by Masuaku out on the left. He curls in a dangerous cross. Sanchez crashes a header clear under plenty of pressure. There will be two added minutes.
44 min: Spurs take a little heat out of the game with some sterile passing around the back.
42 min: There’s been a third goal for Leicester at Anfield. James Maddison has larruped one in from 25 yards at the Kop end. Liverpool 1-3 Leicester City.
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40 min: Bergwijn races clear and flicks the ball over the stranded Areola. As he prepares to walk it into the net, the flag goes up for offside. Just for a second, Hammers hearts were in mouths there.
38 min: Bowen is booked for a cynical tug of the in-flight Reguilon’s shirt. Conte is furious. So is Moyes, because the referee only took action after being alerted by the fourth official. But what’s right is right.
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36 min: This is preposterous, and marvellously so. Lanzini, to the left of the Spurs D, curls a delicious ball towards Soucek at the far post. Soucek is preparing to trundle home, but Skipp gets in the road, just in time. So close to a second equaliser. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 West Ham United (Moura 34)
... and now they’re behind again! Bergwijn, to the right of the D, jinks his way around Lanzini on the outside, reaches the byline, and rolls across for Moura, who forces the ball home, into the bottom right. What a game this is!
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33 min: There were 197 seconds between the goals, during which West Ham could easily have scored three.
GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 West Ham United (Bowen 32)
Dier’s dismal pass upfield is snaffled by Soucek. The ball’s shuttled back towards the box by Rice. Vlasic has a dig. His poor shot drags straight to Bowen on the spot. He takes a touch, spins, sends Dier off to the shops for the Standard, and threads a shot into the bottom left!
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31 min: From the set piece, Soucek is again denied by Lloris, tipping his header over te bar. And from the second corner, Dawson rises six yards out, but slams his header over the bar. Big miss. But no matter, because ...
30 min: West Ham nearly hit back immediately, Soucek sending a looper towards the top left from distance. Lloris does extremely well to tip out for a corner.
GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 West Ham United (Bergwijn 29)
Hojbjerg picks the ball up deep. He pings a pass down the inside-right channel for Bergwijn, just inside the box, Bergwijn lays off for Hojbjerg, who had continued his run. Hojbjerg rolls the ball across the face of the six-yard box, and it’s an easy tap-in for Bergwijn, who steers into the bottom left. Satchmo with the assist.
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27 min: Nothing much going on right now, so the home fans amuse themselves with a bespoke version of this.
25 min: No goals yet at the Brentford Community Stadium either. Liverpool and Leicester doing all of the heavy lifting so far.
23 min: Reguilon takes. It’s not very good. “Well this has nothing to do with the game right now, but I saw on the website an article about how England players were made to watch their wickets falling like snowflakes,” begins Yash Gupta. “Fair to say cricket is a bit behind. Dear old Jose wasn’t afraid to do this when he was the manager. If he was to be in England’s dressing room, some of them would be crying right now.”
22 min: Masuaku stands on Doherty’s boot, and this is a free kick for Spurs just to the right of the West Ham box. Load it up, everyone.
21 min: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has reduced Liverpool’s arrears against Leicester, driving home from the edge of the box after being teed up by Roberto Firmino. Liverpool 1-2 Leicester City.
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20 min: Soucek clips Hojbjerg’s heel, and should probably go in the book. He doesn’t, though, causing Conte to tell him what’s what in the economical style.
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19 min: Vlasic shakes and shimmies down the inside-left channel and has a dig from just inside the box. The ball deflects out for another corner, which Lanzini hoicks into the mixer again. Lloris punches clear once more. This is a good response from West Ham.
18 min: West Ham win a corner down the left. Lanzini whips it in, forcing Lloris to punch clear, the ball sailing dangerously close to the top-left corner.
17 min: A couple of goals already at Anfield, and both have been scored by Jamie Vardy, on nine and 13 minutes. Liverpool 0-2 Leicester City.
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16 min: Bowen’s low delivery is punched clear by Lloris, and then a game of pinball breaks out. Eventually the bedlam dies down and Spurs clear their lines properly.
15 min: The young West Ham right-back Ashby dribbles down the right and is upended by Reguilon. A free kick near the corner flag, and a chance to load the box.
14 min: Rice slides in hectically on Skipp, who isn’t happy with the challenge at all. The referee’s decision: a shrug. Skipp is fuming. A few meaty challenges made already. This could be good fun.
13 min: ... but back come Spurs, Bergwijn and Reguilon combining down the left. The latter’s eventual cross is no good, but all of a sudden the hosts have picked up the tempo.
12 min: Moura spins into space, centrally, 40 yards out. He plays a first-time defence-splitting pass down the inside-left channel for Kane, who takes a touch to enter the box before launching a low drive towards the bottom right. Areola parries well, and the rebound falls to a friendly face and the danger is over.
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10 min: Rice plants a rising drive into the top-right corner ... of the stand behind the goal. He allows himself a wry smile. That was ambitious even for a man of his talents.
9 min: Vlasic attempts to make good down the inside-left channel and is crudely checked by Doherty. A free kick, 30 yards out. Everyone lines up on the edge of the box.
8 min: Nothing comes of the corner. Areola gathers with ease.
7 min: Bergwijn shimmies in from the left and is allowed to reach the box. He takes a whack, the ball caroming off poor Dawson’s trouser arrangement and out for the first corner of the game.
5 min: Lanzini flies in on Doherty, who isn’t too happy at getting caught on the shin. As tackles go, it only registers 4/10 on the Kane-o-meter, so it’s just a quick ticking off. That irked the crowd, though, it’s fair to say.
4 min: Moura dribbles purposefully down the inside-left channel, and is gently clipped from behind by Soucek. Moura takes an age to go down, but does so eventually on the edge of the box, and the free kick is awarded a few yards back upfield, where contact was first made. Dier takes the free kick and blooters it witlessly into the wall.
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3 min: Hojbjerg has somehow taken a whack on the beak, and he’s ordered to the touchline for the application of cotton wool, and a change of shirt. He’ll be fine to continue when patched up.
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2 min: Spurs spend the first minute carefully stroking it around the back. They reprise that carry-on in the second.
Spurs get the ball rolling ... but only after everyone takes the knee. A gesture that’s met with warm applause. There’s no room for racism.
The teams are out! Both teams are able to wear their famous colours. Tottenham in lilywhite, West Ham in claret and blue. A rare atmosphere at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as you’d expect for one of the big London derbies. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes!
Arsenal are already through to the last four, having trounced third-tier Sunderland last night at the Emirates. A reminder that the semi-final draw will take place after tonight’s three quarters are settled, and we’ll be covering that on this MBM too.
Those good results for West Ham against Tottenham, then. The Hammers have won their last two against Spurs, 1-0 and 2-1, both wins coming at the London Stadium this year. The most invigorating result was the one before that, though: a 3-3 draw secured in N17 in October 2020, having been 3-0 down after 16 minutes and still three goals adrift with only eight left on the clock. Another six-goal thriller would certainly warm the cockles on a chilly night. Six-goal thriller, please, lads!
David Moyes takes his turn. “It’s been some draws in the cup [West Ham have already played Manchester United and Manchester City] but the players have played really well in it, so let’s hope we can do it again tonight. Antonio tested positive last week, so he’s getting closer now, but obviously not for tonight. We’ve prepared like every other team, with uncertainty every day, but at the moment we’ve been pretty good with Covid. We’re a bit limited with some injuries but have tried to give other people some opportunities. Harrison Ashby is deserving of his chance and is very close to being a Premier League player. Recently we’ve had a few good results against Tottenham so hopefully we can keep it going.”
Antonio Conte speaks to Sky. “This is a period when we have to try to manage the situation. We have to make changes. Don’t forget we are facing Covid problems, and we have to go game by game. We have to give people who were infected the right to recover. For us, every game is important, but Tottenham have to build again with good foundation. We have to be stronger in the future than now.”
There are two other quarter-finals being played this evening. Brentford host Chelsea, while Liverpool welcome Leicester City. It’s fair to say Chelsea and Liverpool are fielding experimental teams this evening. Thomas Tuchel gives debuts to academy prospects Harvey Vale, Jude Soonsup-Bell and Xavier Simons, while Jurgen Klopp hands a shirt to 19-year-old central defender Billy Koumetio for the first time, and plays nominal right-back Neco Williams as part of his front three. We’ll keep you posted as and when events unfold.
Tottenham boss Antonio Conte makes six changes to the XI that started the 2-2 draw with Liverpool. Matt Doherty, Sergio Reguilon, Oliver Skipp, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn are in; Emerson, Harry Winks, Dele Alli, Tanguy Ndombele, Son Heung-min and Ryan Sessegnon make way.
David Moyes makes four changes to the West Ham XI named for the 2-0 loss at Arsenal last week. Lukasz Fabianski, Vladimir Coufal, Pablo Fornals and Michail Antonio are replaced by Alphonse Areola, Harrison Ashby, Ben Johnson and Nikola Vlasic. Antonio is missing after testing positive for Covid-19.
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The teams
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Sanchez, Dier, Davies, Doherty, Hojbjerg, Skipp, Reguilon, Lucas Moura, Kane, Bergwijn.
Subs: Son, Winks, Emerson, Rodon, Lo Celso, Alli, Gollini, Tanganga, Ndombele.
West Ham United: Areola, Johnson, Dawson, Diop, Ashby, Soucek, Rice, Masuaku, Bowen, Lanzini, Vlasic.
Subs: Yarmolenko, Fornals, Noble, Benrahma, Fredericks, Kral, Randolph, Alese, Baptiste.
Referee: Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire).
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Preamble
It’s been way too long for both of these teams. Tottenham Hotspur haven’t won a trophy since 2008, when they shocked Chelsea in the League Cup final; West Ham United haven’t lifted a pot since beating Arsenal to the 1980 FA Cup. The stakes tonight are high, then: win this London derby and you can really start to dream. Both teams are trending in the right direction, and both will fancy their chances of making it through to the last four. Could be an appropriately festive cracker, with no VAR, no extra time, and no quarter given. Kick off is at 7.45pm. It’s on!
