Ange Postecoglou eyes League Cup glory as Tottenham set up Liverpool semi-final

Spurs beat Man United in seven-goal thriller to reach last four

Pedro Porro, left, and Dominic Solanke celebrate the latter's goal. Reuters

Ange Postecoglou paid tribute to his injury-hit squad after Tottenham avoided a late wobble to edge out Manchester United 4-3 in a dramatic League Cup quarter-final.

Spurs were in total control when Dominic Solanke rifled home his second in the 54th minute to add to his first-half opener and Dejan Kulusevski’s effort 46 seconds into the second half.

But Tottenham’s back-up goalkeeper Fraser Forster pressed the self-destruct button as his two errors set up a nervy finish.

First United substitute Joshua Zirkzee tapped in after Forster’s pass out from the back had been intercepted before Amad Diallo blocked his clearance to make it 3-2 with 20 minutes left.

Postecoglou’s men were teetering on the brink of collapse at that point, but captain Son Heung-min scored directly from a corner with two minutes left despite protestations from United keeper Altay Bayindir.

It ensured Jonny Evans’ stoppage-time header was a mere consolation as Spurs, without 10 players, set up a semi-final against Liverpool and took a big step towards winning a first trophy since 2008.

“We played so well, well in control of the game. It’s the way our season has gone a little bit, we self-inflicted some pain on ourselves and then we had to scramble to get a foothold again,” Postecoglou reflected.

“It should have been a lot more comfortable than it ended up being but having said that, I still can’t get away from the fact this group of players is doing an unbelievable job at the moment to get us through this.

“We’re in a semi-final of a cup competition, so I think that’s something to reflect this progress for us and we’ve got an opportunity now, home and away to get to a final and we’ve earned that opportunity.

“It’s one to look forward to, but we’ve got important games starting this week, starting Sunday (against Liverpool), that we’ve still got to get through and the mentality the boys are showing at the moment, we’re going to tackle these games in the same way we’ve tackled the ones in recent times.”

Amorim taking positives

United boss Ruben Amorim took heart from their fightback, but said his side was undone by a more clinical performance from the hosts.

United went 3-0 down shortly after the break, but scored twice within seven minutes to bring the game back to life and kept up the pressure even after Son Heung-min scored a fourth for the hosts.

"We (disconnected) in the beginning of the second half, it was a tough moment for us, like 10 minutes. And then we (returned), I think we did a great job," Amorim told Sky Sports. "I think if you look at all the game, I think we were the best team but they were more clinical. We (lost) the game but the fight from the lads was really important for me.

"Overall, it was a good match but there's no taste in that. We didn’t win, we need to focus on the next game."

Amorim, who took over from Erik ten Hag in November, said that 13th-placed United still had a long way to go before they could challenge for the Premier League title.

"We're improving as a team... our goal is to win the Premier League. How long it's going to take? I don’t know but that is our goal," he added.

United host sixth-placed Bournemouth on Sunday.