Tottenham dominate Rochdale in second half of bizarre FA Cup replay

Fernando Llorente scored more goals in a 12-minute span than he has all season, his first hat trick with the club securing Tottenham’s place in the FA Cup quarterfinal. 

Tottenham put the bizarre first half in the rearview, finally showcasing their superiority in a fluid and expansive second 45 which saw the home side bag five goals on route to a decisive 6-1 victory.

The snow fell thick and fast on an abnormal wintery Wembley evening. The uncustomary weather matched the on-pitch oddities.

Second half

After the restart, Llorente finally showed a bit of long overdue class. He took a lovely little Lucas Moura through ball in stride and dinked expertly over Josh Lillis to restore Spurs’ lead.

Wembley held their collective breath as VAR confirmed whether Llorente was indeed onside, though nobody has faith in its reliability. The goal stood, and rightly so.

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Moura was also in on Spurs’ third. The crafty winger drove at Rochdale and laid it off for Son Heung-Min, who returned the favour. Moura then knocked it intelligently square for Llorente, who instinctively toe-poked home for his second in six minutes.

Llorente completed his hat trick thanks to Son’s inviting lobbed dink across the face of goal. The ball was put on a platter for the Spaniard, who made no mistake from about a yard out.

Son got in on the action again, knocking home his second of the match to further reinforce the home side’s second half dominance.

Kyle Walker-Peters then added salt to Rochdale’s wound, the young wing back scoring his first Tottenham goal late in injury time.

First half

The doctor prescribed an early Tottenham goal and that’s exactly what the home side thought they got within five minutes of the opening kickoff. Until video review (VAR) stepped in to overrule what appeared to be a perfectly legal goal. VAR took centre stage throughout the first 45, miring an otherwise lively half of football.

The goal, after the rebound on Son shot fell favourable for Erik Lamela, presumably was disallowed for a Llorente tug. The first pull, though, was instigated by Rochdale’s defender. Llorente merely returned the favour in what should have been adjudged as a bit of legal argy-bargy between battling adversaries.

Unfortunately that incident was only the first of many controversial VAR moments in the first 45 minutes.

Matt Done posed Rochdale’s initial threat going forward. He was sent through, capitalizing on Tripper being caught up field and out of position. Done dragged his left-footed attempt just wide of the far post, but the warning signs were on display for all to see.

Son offered a touch of first-team class his side needed, cutting across the face of goal after receiving Lamela’s pass to dispatch home for Spurs. This time the goal stood.

Another VAR incident followed, the decision this time favouring Spurs. Trippier was dragged to ground, an infraction that started outside Rochdale’s penalty area. VAR intervened, with Paul Tierney, after what seemed like an eternity, eventually pointing to the spot.

Son took the penalty, overruling a few teammates who also put their name forth for the opportunity to double Tottenham’s lead. The South Korean stuttered and stopped before finding the bottom corner of the net.

Tierney immediately showed Son a yellow card, deciding the South Korean had blatantly contravened the rules. Not only did the South Korean’s temporary pause before hitting the penalty cost Spurs an all-important second goal, it put him in perilous position, an infraction away from being shown an early shower.

It went from bad to worse for the shell-shocked home side, as Stephen Humphrys punished Spurs after a ghastly turn of events at wintry Wembley night that will be forever overshadowed by the senseless, illogical insanity of VAR.

Humphrys jumped on to a through ball and beat Michel Vorm to equalize. Andy Cannon almost added insult to injury at the tail end of the half, smashing his effort flush off the far post. Luckily the ball ricocheted out of harm’s way.

Next: Alderweireld won't feature against Juventus

Spurs travel to Wales for the second time in the competition, this time taking on Swansea in the quarterfinal on March 17. Let’s hope Wales is more kind to Tottenham on the second time of asking.