Tottenham moved within touching distance of defending their League Cup title after super-substitute Jamie O’Hara inspired a 4-1 win over Burnley in Tuesday’s semi-final first leg.
When Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp sent on O’Hara at half-time, Tottenham were trailing to Martin Paterson’s early goal and had been completely outplayed by Owen Coyle’s Championship team.
But O’Hara’s arrival sparked a remarkable transformation at White Hart Lane. The midfielder’s free-kick set up the equalizer for Michael Dawson and he scored Tottenham’s second himself before Roman Pavlyuchenko made it three for the Premier League club.
PHOTO: AFP
O’Hara wasn’t finished there and he layed on the fourth goal with another free-kick that Michael Duff headed into his own net.
It was a whirlwind spell that left Burnley bewildered and Spurs on the verge of returning to Wembley on March 1 to defend the trophy they won last year by beating Chelsea.
All Tottenham have to do now is finish the job at Turf Moor in the second leg in two weeks and they will be able to look forward to a final showdown against Manchester United or Derby.
PHOTO: AFP
Burnley had already claimed three Premier League scalps in the competition this season and those wins over Chelsea, Arsenal and Fulham made it clear they would be no pushover.
In the 14th minute Clarets winger Chris Eagles surged into the penalty area past Gareth Bale and, as Tottenham’s defense stood statuesque, cut a cross back for Paterson to tap into the empty net.
Burnley’s 6,000 traveling fans went wild and Spurs almost went into meltdown.
Burnley won every 50-50 challenge in the first half and Redknapp responded by sending on O’Hara for David Bentley at half-time and it proved an inspired move.
In the 47th minute, O’Hara swung over a corner and Dawson rose above Clarke Carlisle to looped his ahead into the roof of the net.
Tottenham went in front as O’Hara turned from provider to scorer six minutes later. Pavlyuchenko’s cross was glanced on by Luka Modric to O’Hara and his low shot crept in.
O’Hara wasn’t just a thorn in Burnley’s side going forward. His presence in front of Bale subdued Eagles for the first time and shutout the visitors’ most creative force.
Bale’s alert clearance denied Chris McCann midway through the half. Moments later Pavyluchenko put Spurs in complete control.
The Russian collected Bale’s 65th minute pass, skipped past Clarke and scored with a fine low strike.
Spurs added a fourth two minutes later when O’Hara’s free-kick was headed into his own net by Duff.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS