Coventry City 1-2 Tottenham: Ange Postecoglou's side survive almighty scare against Championship... (original) (raw)

Coventry City 1-2 Tottenham: Ange Postecoglou's side survive almighty scare against Championship opponents as late goals seal Carabao Cup progress

Published: 16:53 EDT, 18 September 2024 | Updated: 03:39 EDT, 19 September 2024

They pulled on a minty green kit and threw in fresh faces, but Tottenham required a late rescue from an unlikely source before they could cleanse the derby defeat from their system.

Just four days after a losing on home turf to Arsenal, when Ange Postecoglou reminded the world how he never failed to win a trophy in his second season, his team were desperately close to an embarrassing defeat in the Carabao Cup.

Coventry led with 88 minutes on clock and the CBS Arena was bouncing in premature celebration until Djed Spence burst forward from left back to lead the escape with his first goal in Tottenham colours.

Then with penalties looming Brennan Johnson dashed clear onto a pass by Rodrigo Bentancur and produced a cool finish to win the tie and silence the trolls who forced him to deactivate his social media accounts after the North London derby.

'We hung in there,' said Postecoglou, who praised Coventry and left for home with concerns about injuries to Wilson Odobert and Timo Werner. 'We dug deep to stay in the game. We showed a lot of what we had last season. Character and spirit to win games.

Brennan Johnson scored the winner for Tottenham in the 92nd minute against Coventry

The Welsh forward's strike saved Tottenham from a humiliating Carabo Cup exit

Postecoglou praised his side's 'character and spirit' to pull off a last-gasp comeback

'That's probably what's been missing in the first four games. We've had performances but not the relentlessness to get results. '

It was heartbreak for the Championship team who had been much the better team for large parts of this tie and might have already been ahead before Brandon Thomas-Asante struck in the 63rd minute.

Tottenham started with a team costing close to £250million, but Postecoglou was able to send on Heung-min Son, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski from the bench and they made a huge difference as Coventry finally faded under the pressure.

Spurs slumped out of this competition at the first hurdle last season, a defeat on penalties at Fulham which Postecoglou came to regret when no European football and an early exit in the FA Cup against Manchester City combined to leave him short on fixtures.

That experience did not deter him from making eight changes though. Only Bentancur, Destiny Udogie and Dominic Solanke survived from the Arsenal game on Sunday.

There were first starts for Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall and less than a minute gone when Fraser Forster, back after breaking a foot in February and making his first appearance since the Fulham defeat more than a year ago, handed Coventry their first chance of the night.

Playing out from the back, Forster rolled Bergvall into trouble just outside the penalty area and the goalkeeper had to adjust quickly to make his first save of the night, diving to push wide a fierce drive by Jack Rudoni.

Coventry boss Mark Robins made almost as many changes with all but four who started at Watford on Saturday making way. They have just one win from their opening five Championship games but have good pedigree as a cup team and they troubled their Premier League visitors.

Coventry boss Mark Robins was left to lament several missed chances from his side

Brandon Thomas-Asante's goal had everyone in Coventry thinking an upset was on the cards

Coventry fashioned several chances but were unable to convert and it ultimately proved costly

Forster made saves either side of half-time from Norman Bassette and Ben Davies blocked another effort by Rudoni. Spurs generated a quicker tempo in possession in the second half, which served to tear the game wide open, with Coventry looking increasingly dangerous on the break.

Davies made another crucial clearance to deny Haji Wright and then forced the first real save of the night from Ben Wilson with a header from a corner before Coventry took the lead. Bassette crossed from the left and Asante-Thomas applied a crisp finish.

The home side could have stretched their lead but for so long it seemed as if one would be enough. Then Spence charged forward to score and Johnson issued a reminder of Premier League quality with a burst of pace and a cute dink over the goalkeeper in the second minute of added time.

'I'm going to try not to swear,' said Robins. 'I thought we were really good. We got most things right. We have to be more ruthless, let's be honest. Life presents you with chances and we seem not to be able to take them at this moment in time.

'Yes it's disappointing we didn't win but there are lots of positives for us to take. If you're Tottenham, you're relieved to go through.'