Tottenham lucky to edge past Coventry 2-1 in Carabao Cup thriller

On Wednesday night, Spurs traveled to the Midlands to face Championship outfit Coventry City in the Carabao Cup third round.

Ange Postecoglu went for a line up of; Forster, Gray, Dragusin, Davies, Udogie; Sarr, Bentancur, Bergvall; Odobert, Solanke, Werner.

The first half was much of a muchness, with Spurs having a lot of the ball but doing absolutely nothing with it, as their hosts looked like the more dangerous side in transition. 17 minutes in, Odobert pulled up with an apparent hamstring injury and was replaced by Johnson.

At half-time, Spurs had had 0 shots, despite 74% possession. Ange responded by introducing Spence for Udogie at the break to try and inject some energy into the side.

Nine minutes after the break, Coventry were through on goal and may have found the back of the bet but for a last-ditch recovery by Spence. 

Two minutes later, Forster came miles off his line, and did not get there, leaving his goal empty. However, luckily Davies was there to get in the way of what Haji Wright otherwise thought was an open goal with a last-ditch slide to divert it away from rolling into the net. 

Spurs leave it late to strike twice at Coventry City

After 62 minutes, Son replaced Solanke and Maddison replaced Bergvall as he returned to his boyhood club. 

On the hour mark, a poor clearance by Forster fell to Wright, though his shot was blocked, as the hosts began to ramp up the pressure.

Three minutes later, the Sky Blues had their deserved goal, as Brandon Thomas-Asante converted well after a cross from the left-hand side, and Spurs had it all to do to stay in the competition.

The goal did not kickstart a reaction from Spurs or anything though. Coventry continued to force high turnovers and win set pieces. After 70 minutes, Spurs had only registered three shots. 

With a quarter of an hour to go, Kulusevski replaced Werner who seemed to hurt himself closing down a clearance. 

With around ten minutes to go, Spurs finally had a good chance. Spence won the ball in the Coventry box, as the ball fell to Kulusevski who forced a save from Ben Wilson down to his left-hand side. The Swedish international could not convert the rebound when off balance.

Three minutes from time, Spence bailed Spurs out and then some, making a superb run to get on the end of Kulusevsi’s poke forward. A lovely pass from Maddison to fizz it into Kulusevski, also. The Spurs number 10 had injected some life into a previously lifeless performance.

And then, in injury time, Spurs were handed possibly the biggest get-out-of-jail card that they will get all season. 

The game was completely open, and Spurs took advantage of the space. Bentancur, in what could be his last game for a few months, slipped Johnson through on goal, who had the composure to slot past the advancing Wilson into the bottom corner. 

Spurs and Ange have been massively let off the hook, but the late turnaround cannot be an excuse for an absolutely abysmal and embarrassing performance. Outcome bias is rife in sports, and I really hope it is not used tonight. The truth is, Spurs were massively outplayed and deserved to lose against a Championship side. 

Hopefully, it turns out to be the perfect outcome - where Spurs use this performance as a turning point, and it leads to an upturn in performances and results whilst still advancing to the next round at the same time. 

Other than the result, the two positives of the night were the goalscorers. Spence and Johnson most certainly needed that, for different reasons. Hopefully, it can be the start of something positive for both of them.