Lowly Rochdale on Sunday scored deep into stoppage-time to deny Tottenham Hotspur victory as their FA Cup fifth-round tie ended in a thrilling 2-2 draw.
It seemed Spurs had done enough to book their place in the quarter-finals when in-form England striker Harry Kane, on as a substitute, scored from the penalty spot with two minutes of normal time remaining to make it 2-1 to the visitors, but Rochdale, who had opened the scoring on the stroke of halftime through Ian Henderson, equalized when substitute Steve Davies scored in the third minute of stoppage-time.
This result means Rochdale, bottom of League One, can now look forward to a lucrative replay at Wembley.
“They say it’s every kid’s dream [to play at Wembley] and we have done enough to go there,” Davies told the BBC, before saying of his equalizer: “I’ve done my job, it’s dropped to me and I’ve finished it.”
Rochdale went ahead when Henderson crowned a slick move that made a mockery of the club’s league position with a composed finish after an excellent angled through-ball from Andrew Cannon split the Tottenham defense.
Lucas Moura drew Spurs level, exchanging passes with Moussa Sissoko and beating Rochdale goalkeeper John Lillis just shy of the hour-mark.
It seemed Spurs’ recovery was complete when Rochdale defender Harrison McGahey brought down Dele Alli and Kane beat Lillis, who dived the right way, with a well-struck penalty, but there was still time for one more twist which means Spurs are facing a Wembley replay for the second round in a row, having needed two games to end League Two strugglers Newport County’s run.
“It’s unbelievable,” Henderson said. “We played some incredible football against Spurs. We cannot wait to go to Wembley to play them.”
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino tried to play down the inconvenience of an unscheduled extra game for his side, still involved in the UEFA Champions League and in the hunt for a top-four finish in the Premier League.
“The FA Cup is magic,” Pochettino said. “We have another opportunity at Wembley, the same situation like before.”
Pochettino paid tribute to Rochdale, saying the way they had raised their game for the FA Cup was no shock in his eyes.
“I was not surprised,” he said. “This competition is completely different. Newport gave us a fantastic game and they lost their next game in the league 5-0.”
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was