Tottenham’s hunt for a first trophy since 2006 remains on as they squeezed through a tricky FA Cup third-round tie with Portsmouth courtesy of a moment of magic from star man Harry Kane.
The away side, who brought 9000 fans to north London, more than held their own in a first half low on quality, in which the main talking point was a tackle by Oliver Skipp, which some fans felt a red card should have been awarded for.
Ouch! 😬
VAR had a look at this from Oliver Skipp on Michael Morrison… nothing came of it. Thoughts?#BBCFootball #FACup
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) January 7, 2023
Spurs came out of the traps much better in the second half, however, and after Emerson Royal saw a header rebound off the inside of the Pompey post, Kane once more came to Tottenham’s rescue.
As he did in midweek against Crystal Palace, the Tottenham captain created something out of nothing, exchanging a sharp one-two with Ryan Sessegnon before he curled emphatically into the far corner of the Tottenham goal to take him to within one goal of Jimmy Greaves’ all-time goalscoring record for the Lilywhites.
Great hit from Harry Kane – SPURS LEAD! 💥
Watch live: https://t.co/UvyzpA7i3S#BBCFootball #FACup pic.twitter.com/UlslKkdFxc
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) January 7, 2023
It was the only real moment of quality produced by either side in a game where chances came at a premium, with Oliver Skipp guilty of blazing over from four yards out but otherwise Josh Griffiths had very little to do in the Pompey goal. Nonetheless, Kane’s goal proved decisive, and it sees Tottenham into the fourth round of the competition, leaving their hunt for a trophy under Antonio Conte still very much on.
📰 Table Of Contents
Player ratings
Tottenham Hotspur FC
- GK: Fraser Forster (6) – Didn’t have a great deal to do in the Tottenham goal.
- RWB: Emerson Royal (7) – One of his best outings in a Tottenham shirt, but wasn’t asked to do too much defensively.
- CB: Japhet Tanganga (6) – Solid but unspectacular.
- CB: Davinson Sanchez (6) – Confident on the ball and didn’t put a foot wrong with the minimal defending he was asked to do.
- CB: Ben Davies (6) – Picked up a late booking but otherwise did little of note.
- LWB: Ryan Sessegnon (5) – Did nothing to suggest that he should be starting on a regular basis for Tottenham.
- CM: Oliver Skipp (5) – Looked lost even against lower league opposition and missed a glorious chance to double the scoreline just after the hour mark.
- CM: Pape Matar Sarr (7) – Encouraging on his full debut for the club, and could have a big role to play in the second half of the season.
- RW: Bryan Gil (8) – Exciting and full of running even if he remains a little lightweight. Adds some much-needed flair to Tottenham’s attack but lacked any end product.
- ST: Harry Kane (8) – Where would Tottenham be without him? Created something out of nothing to break the deadlock and continues to chase records in north London.
- LW: Heung-Min Son (5) – Dealt with very well by Swanson and nothing he tried came off. Will need to be better in the north London derby next weekend.
Substitutes
- Djed Spence (6) – Solid but unspectacular when coming on, but did enough to warrant more chances in a Spurs shirt.
- Alfie Devine (N/A) – On in stoppage time.
Portsmouth
- GK: Joshua Griffiths (6) – Flapped at a corner early on but was otherwise calm and collected. Could do nothing about Harry Kane’s effort.
- RWB: Zak Swanson (8) – The former Arsenal man kept Son very quiet throughout, and did his reputation no harm with a strong performance.
- CB: Michael Morrison (7) – Made some excellent defensive interventions to keep Tottenham quiet for the most part.
- CB: Sean Raggett (7) – Dominant in the air and worked well in the heart of the Pompey defence to offer Spurs very little.
- CB: Connor Ogilive (6) – Was given a tricky afternoon by Bryan Gil.
- LWB: Denver Hume (6) – Struggled to contain Bryan Gil and Emerson Royal.
- CM: Joe Morrell (8) – Excellent in helping out his defence and mopping up loose balls.
- CM: Ryan Tunnicliffe (7) – Worked hard in the first half but tailed off in the second and was replaced just after the hour.
- RW: Reeco Hackett-Fairchild (6) – Had one good chance in the first half, but was otherwise largely anonymous.
- ST: Colby Bishop (4) – Isolated and couldn’t really have any impact on the game.
- LW: Owen Dale (4) – Hardly saw the ball, and was increasingly asked to defend rather than going forwards.
Substitutes
- Josh Koroma
- Lewis Thompson (5) – Booked moments after coming on and had no real impact on proceedings.
- Michael Jacobs (N/A) – On for the final five minutes.
- Joe Pigott (N/A) – On for the final five minutes.
- Ronan Curtis (N/A) – On for the final five minutes.
Expert Analysis
Yves Bissouma picked up a knock in the warm-up so Spurs now have a very young midfield duo in Oliver Skipp and Pape Matar Sarr.
— Alasdair Gold (@AlasdairGold) January 7, 2023
A bit of bulking up and a few seasons of experience and Sarr should be a really good player. His first touch is nice.
— Seb Stafford-Bloor (@SebSB) January 7, 2023
Fan reaction
Sound like a broken record but how on earth is Spence not getting a game in a match like this? Starting Emerson instead is really head scratching.
— Hotspur Edition 🇦🇺 (@HotspurEdition) January 7, 2023
Bad first half overall.
Especially on the wings, Sessegnon is having an awful game, Emerson isn’t helping also on the other side.
Skipp very rusty, Sarr made two mistakes but overall he’s been really exciting.
We got this, but we need to wake up, and Sarr need to shoot more.
— Jaco™ (@JacoCats) January 7, 2023
The academy would get WAY more heat if Kane didn’t exist. Skipp, Tanganga, Winks, Onomah is the best it’s given us 😂😂
— dz 🟣🟡 (@dzthfc) January 7, 2023
Not going to lie, Skipp looks a little lost today! You’d never know that it’s Sarr’s first start
— chrisadams. (@ChrisAdams42) January 7, 2023
