Late goals by Djed Spence and Brennan Johnson helped Tottenham avoid an almighty upset at Coventry in the Carabao Cup.
Spurs were set to follow up Sunday’s painful derby defeat to Arsenal with a 1-0 loss in the third round after Brandon Thomas-Asante fired the Championship side into a deserved lead after 63 minutes.
Moments earlier, Ange Postecoglou’s decision to substitute Lucas Bergvall had been met with boos from the away end.
Ice cold. 🥶 pic.twitter.com/x8nZXzjIH3
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 18, 2024
However, with time running out and Postecoglou’s bold prediction last weekend of always winning silverware in his second season being set to come back to bite him, Djed Spence found an equaliser with three minutes left.
Spot-kicks were still on the cards until Rodrigo Bentancur played through Brennan Johnson, who chipped home in the 92nd minute to earn Tottenham a precious 2-1 win and leave their travelling support singing about Wembley.
This was the first meeting between the clubs in 11 years, but it was a fixture synonymous with the 1987 FA Cup final when Coventry triumphed 3-2 to clinch the only major trophy of their history.
Postecoglou was eager to deliver silverware for Spurs, but made eight changes from Sunday’s north London derby loss.
Fraser Forster was recalled for his first start in more than 12 months and almost gave away a goal inside 60 seconds, but atoned for a poor pass out from the back with a fine save to deny Jack Rudoni from 20 yards.
When Tottenham did eventually settle, they were forced into a 17th-minute substitution when Wilson Odobert went down after a strong challenge from Jake Bidwell.
Johnson was sent on and while the visitors continued to dominate possession, they could not fashion any chances and almost conceded again during an end-to-end 38th minute.
Firstly, Rudoni’s shot from Bidwell’s cross was blocked by Destiny Udogie and Johnson led the Spurs counter-attack but his cutback failed to pick out a team-mate, which resulted in Norman Bassette being sent away only to fire over.
After no first-half shots and a smattering of boos from the away crowd, Postecoglou sent on full-back Spence and two minutes later they did register an effort of note.
Dominic Solanke carried the ball and found Johnson, but his low effort was blocked by ex-Tottenham youngster Luis Binks.
First Spurs goal ✅ pic.twitter.com/iWHQ9LXj92
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 18, 2024
It was not a sign of things to come as after Timo Werner was again dispossessed, Bassette tested Forster with a low strike.
The 24,606-strong crowd could smell blood and wanted a penalty after 56 minutes when Bidwell raced onto Ben Wilson’s pass and collided with Forster, but play continued and Spurs’ stand-in captain Ben Davies slid in to deny Haji Wright’s goalbound effort.
Thomas-Asante lifted over shortly afterwards before Postecoglou’s night went from bad to worse as his decision to bring off the lively Bergvall sparked boos.
Seconds later and the home faithful were on their feet in celebration after Bassette produced a superb cross for Thomas-Asante to slot past Forster.
No immediate reaction was evident as Ellis Simms headed wide soon after for Coventry.
James Maddison did go close in the 77th minute when he controlled Radu Dragusin’s long-range pass but curled wide from range before Ephron Mason-Clark failed to sufficiently connect with Simms’ deflected shot.
As Postecoglou was facing up to a second consecutive early exit in this competition, his blushes were spared when Dejan Kulusevski linked up with Spence, who prodded home for his first Spurs goal.
With three minutes left, Tottenham sensed their moment and in the second minute of stoppage time Bentancur played in Johnson, who rolled the ball past Wilson to ensure the full-time whistle was greeted with chants of ‘Wembley’ from Tottenham’s travelling support.
Interim boss Stephen Frail expects Motherwell to appoint a new manager next week and admits their first job will be to lift the players’ confidence after a 3-0 mauling at home to Ross County.A double from Ronan Hale and Connor Randall’s last-minute strike secured an impressive victory for the Staggies at Fir Park.Defeat sees the Steelmen drop into the bottom half of the Premiership tab...
Mark Hughes heaped praise on goalkeeper Gabe Breeze after Carlisle picked up a vital point in the League Two relegation battle with a goalless draw against in-form Colchester at Brunton Park.Breeze made two excellent saves from Lyle Taylor as the Cumbrians ended a four-game losing run and the former Man City boss was astounded by the 21-year-old’s performance.He said: “The game had som...
Chesterfield boss Paul Cook launched a scathing attack on his play-off hopefuls after they surrendered an early lead to lose 3-1 at Sky Bet League Two table-toppers Walsall.The Spireites enjoyed a rapid start when Jamie Grimes’ eighth-minute header put them ahead against a wobbling Walsall side, who were winless in five matches with the chasing pack closing in.However, Bim Pepple and Dylan D...
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has allayed fears of an injury scare to top scorer Erling Haaland ahead of next week’s Champions League trip to Real Madrid.Haaland went down clutching his leg in the latter stages of the champions’ 4-0 Premier League thrashing of Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and was immediately substituted.Losing the Norwegian would be a major blow to ...
Rotherham manager Steve Evans described Thomas Parsons’ performance as “atrocious” after the referee awarded a stoppage-time penalty from which Reading snatched a 2-1 victory in League One.Reading had led 1-0 at half-time through top scorer Harvey Knibbs but Sam Nombe levelled for Rotherham from a spot-kick in the 57th minute.With the game heading for a draw, Parsons adjudged Mil...
Michael Flynn believes his team can make a charge towards the League Two play-offs places after watching them come from 2-0 down to beat Barrow 3-2 at home.Matty Taylor scored twice before fellow substitute Ashley Hay hit the winner as the Robins continued their perfect home record in 2025.Cheltenham climbed to 13th in the table and sit eight points off seventh-placed Crewe with two games in hand....
Birmingham manager Chris Davies praised Jay Stansfield’s work ethic after he lit up St Andrew’s with the only goal of a 1-0 win to sink play-off chasing Charlton.Stansfield’s 23rd-minute strike stretched City’s lead to nine points ahead of second-placed Wycombe, with Blues boasting a game in hand.Victory was City’s 30th in all competitions as they extended their unbea...
Andoni Iraola refused to get carried away after Bournemouth fans were left dreaming of a potential Champions League adventure following a first league double over south-coast rivals Southampton.Travelling Cherries fans chanted of playing in European football’s premier competition next season after their side soared to fifth spot in the Premier League table thanks to a deserved 3-1 success at...
Norwich head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup praised his side for fighting back to draw 1-1 at Hull after he demanded “I want to see my football team back”.The Norwich boss had some tough words for his team as they trailed 1-0 at half-time to the relegation-threatened side, including for Kellen Fisher – but the player then delivered the assist for Josh Sargent’s equaliser.The Un...
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says Jota has a chance of starting against Bayern Munich after scoring and impressing in a 3-0 victory over Dundee United.Jota earned the club’s man-of-the-match award after cutting in from the left and curling home from 18 yards to double the lead given to the hosts by another impressive finish from Callum McGregor.The Portuguese winger has now started two gam...
