As teams like their own surroundings, our opponents in this League Cup tie will have been to Hull and back by the time they arrive back at White hart Lane for a second meeting in four days.

After what AVB said following Sunday's 1-0 defeat, I better not say too much for fear of being too negative.

Besides, most of what I said ahead of Sunday's game applies again, but with Hull's skeleton side showing more of the same in this match, making it an even less appetising prospect.

Suffice to say Tottenham will go through to the quarter finals ... hopefully in 90 minutes, with Erik Lamela opening his account for the club.

TV
The League Cup Show  (BBC 1) - Sunday 23.05 (highlights)  Also available online.
For coverage in all parts of the world, check here and here.

Radio :  
BBC LONDON 94.9FM (London area only), Digital Radio (London area only) &  Sky Channel 0152  (live coverage)
Commentary may be found on
>   BBC Radio Five Live (live coverage)  606/939 MW
>  TalkSport (DAB or 1089 MW)
>  Absolute Radio  (1215 AM/MW)

If available on BBC radio, it can supposedly be heard in these countries on these stations ...
Australia (Melbourne) SEN  -  116 AM  Live Transmissions: TWI, Saturday. 12.45 & 1500 matches
Australia (Sydney)  Radio 2  -  1611AM  Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 12.45 Match
Singapore Media Corp Radio  -  93.8 FM  Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 15.00 Match
South Africa  SABC (Radio 2000)  Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 15.00 Match
Uganda  Radio 1 (English) 90.0 FM, Radio 2 (Lugandan) 87.9 FM  Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 15.00 Match
North America (USA, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean)  Sirius Satellite Radio  Live transmission: Saturday - 12.45, 15.00 (TWI) & 17.15 (BBC) Sunday - 14.00 & 16.05 (BBC) Mon, Tue, Wed - Various times (BBC)

Internet :
www.spurs.co.uk   Live webcast  - subscribers only
BBC London - http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/10/12/live_commentaries_feature.shtml click on link to "Listen to Tottenham Hotspur live commentary" on top right hand menu.

Tottenham Hotspur  1 (1)                                                                             Hull City  1 (0)

Spurs won 8-7 on penalties after the game ended 2-2 after extra time

League Cup Round 4
Sunday 31st October 2013                                                                                                                      Kick off 19:45
White Hart Lane

Brad FRIEDEL  (o.g.)

  2  Kyle WALKER
  5  Jan VERTONGHEN
  4  Younes KABOUL (c)
16  Kyle NAUGHTON (  6  Vlad CHIRICHES 68)

19  Mousa DEMBELE
  8  PAULINHO

22  Gylfi SIGURDSSON 
23  Christian ERIKSEN (21  Nacer CHADLI  68 [37  Harry KANE 78  ])
11  Erik LAMELA

18  Jermain DEFOE      

Unused subs: 
25  Hugo LLORIS
15  Etienne CAPOUE
14  Lewis HOLTBY
42  Nabil BENTALEB

 

17  George BOYD
  7  David MEYLER
10  Robert KOREN (c)  (18  GEDO 82)
29  Stephen QUINN
27  Ahmed ELMOHAMADY

  9  Danny GRAHAM  (21  Aaron McLEAN 46)
 

Unused subs: 
22  Steve HARPER
  3  Maynor FIGUEROA
23  Abdoulaye FAYE
20  Mohamed SAGBO

Three days on and it was Hull back at White Hart Lane, but this time in a one off, winner takes all League Cup tie. And Hull played in a more expansive manner, just as Steve Bruce had told TalkSport they would, but that still didn't stop them sticking many men behind the ball and having David Mayler and Paul McShane using every trick they have learned to the maximum effect.

The fact that Spurs won through to meet West Ham United at the Lane in the quarter final should not hide the fact that they found it difficult to get through the Hull defence and that they failed to sufficiently test the Tigers' third choice keeper Eldin Jakupovic, with penalties being needed to go through.

Changes to both sides saw the teams line up for Hull to kick off, but Spurs had started well, picking up a decent tempo and moving the ball quicker than on Sunday. This got the crowd going and with a large percentage of season ticket holders not taking up their seats, the presence of Dads and their children during half term made AVB's request for more vocal support more evident. But Hull could have gone ahead as early as the fourth minute when Stephen Quinn put in a low cross from their left and Danny Graham was alone in the middle and from eight yards out put the ball wide. He didn't know that the linesman was about to raise his flag for offside and save his embarrassment.

Tottenham's short passing around the box was almost getting through the Tigers back line, but late interceptions were just preventing them creating the opportunities they wanted. In the tenth minute, Kaboul jumped highest to head Christian Eriksen's corner just wide, when an effort on target may have had more of a return. A couple of shots went wide from Paulinho and Lamela before a ball in to Sigurdsson from Kyle Naughton saw the Icelander popping the ball up on the turn and then smashing a right foot drive that flew past Jakupovic before he had a chance to dive. It was a fine strike and 16 minutes in, Spurs were ahead.

This would have been a great opportunity to push on and ram home the advantage, but despite trying to engineer a way through the opposition defence, the final ball was either intercepted or, when Eriksen played a ball to Defoe that would have sent him through on goal, the ball hit the back of his heel and went to a Hull player. Another interception by Alex Bruce saw him strain something, leading to his father pulling him off.

Ten minutes before half time, Hull knocked the ball about until it found Ahmed Elmohamady in the right hand channel outside the area, from where he let go a shot that was heading across Friedel, but Brad dived to his right to beat the shot out to the edge of the area. It was fairly central and heading straight for Graham, who looked likely to get a shot on goal, except Younes Kaboul arrived to stretch out a leg to knock the ball away and avert the danger. It was an impressive tackle, when Graham had out-paced Younes earlier in the match in a foot race.

It wasn't a great first half, with the possession outweighing the chances we made. At half time there was an excruciatingly scary set-up, where three fans had to ask questions of a Halloween masked former player. The questions from the three fans chosen to interrogate him were basic and one bloke had trouble even thinking of questions to ask, even when he realised that he had actually played for the ex-Spur when he managed Hertford Town, he called him Brian Roberts !! But it was Graham Roberts and his chat was shortened by the length of time taken to get the identity of the former Spurs defender out of them.

The second half began with Hull picking a ball off our defence in the first minute, with Aaron McLean being free on the edge of the box and he hit a low shot across Friedel, but it went wide of the far post. It was an early scare on the night before Halloween that Spurs should have taken notice of.

For the first time in the match Defoe found some space and drilled a shot at goal, but the ball flew wide and Hull built an attack that won a corner. From it, the ball was cleared, but a back heel from Boyd put Elmohamady away on the right and his low cross into the six yard box beat Friedel's attempt to intercept and reached the far post. Curtis Davies showed his defensive abilities and from less than a yard out, he put the ball back across goal as he mis-hit his effort on goal and it flew off Brad and into the net to equalise the score.
This was when the game opened up. Hull, with a number on injuries and Spurs, needing to keep their good run going, both started to trade moves. Eriksen went for goal and shot wide, while Walker produced a very good sliding tackle on Boyd, as he almost was put through. Kaboul put a cross from Elmohamady over his own bar from a couple of yards out, doing very well to head it into the Park Lane end from so close to goal.

Spurs brought on Nacer Chadli for the Eriksen and Vlad Chiriches for the injured Naughton, with the Belgian winger getting across McShane to get to Jan Vertonghen's left wing cross first, but he could not direct it on target.  Kyle Walker was starting to make the most of the space in front of him and his driving runs were getting the ball forward into areas around the Hull box, by committing players.  Chadli lasted ten minutes, before limping off and Harry Kane came on in his stead.  After Mayler committed one more foul to add to his impressive total over the two games by smashing Defoe to the ground, Spurs had a free-kick, placed 25 yards out and dead centre.  Defoe grabbed the ball and wanted to have a go, having just been booked for diving, his dander was up.   However, it was Erik Lamela who struck it and although it wasn't fierce, he struck it well over the wall and got it on target, with Jakupovic producing a 'Hollywood' save to punch the ball away.  Kane had got into the game straight away and was acting in the Soldado role, with people playing off him.  He'd been fed in by Jan but baulked by Davies, then got crowded out, just before he took the ball right an unleashed a rising shot that looked as if it was going in, but thumped against the angle of crossbar and post, bouncing away to safety for Hull.  That was in the last minute of normal time.

With the final whistle, extra time was due and the teams were getting last minute instructions from the managers, when people started heading home from the crowd.  You can see what AVB means.

The tactic at the start of extra time was to run at the Hull goal, with Lamela doing well to the edge of the box, but being shepherded away as he got within shooting range, then Chiriches brought the ball forward and had a shot that won a corner off Davies.  However, from that corner, Hull won one of their own, with Walker having to sprint back to concede it.  Having cleared the ball, in Tottenham's next move, they worked the ball around the box until there was space for Gylfi to strike a shot similar to McLean's in the second half.  Same position and same result as it went past the keeper's left hand post.  When Hull got up to the Tottenham end, they won two quick corners and from the second played in by Boyd, McShane rose unmarked to head powerfully into the roof of the net with 100 minutes approaching on the clock.

It was a blow coming at a time when Spurs had looked like scoring, but they went again and Walker and Lamela both had shots blocked by Tigers defenders before ET half-time.

No entertainment, but the players all had a breather and more instruction form the coaches, whereas they used to turn straight round and get on with it.  The second period started with Spurs pushing for the equaliser and Kaboul got to a corner with his head, but was off the mark once more.  Tired legs meant play was switching ends and substitute Gedo was released down the right hand channel and he smacked a shot at goal which rose over the bar, but should have shown a bit more composure to hit the target at that stage of the game.

It proved a costly miss, with Harry Kane showing more of a finisher's coolness.  108 minutes were played when the young England striker took the ball from his senior partner and pushed the ball left of the D, before he hit a low angles shot back across the goalie and it found the bottom corner of the net.  It was a nicely taken goal for his first in domestic competition and hopefully, it will give him great confidence for the future.  Defoe was doing all he could to win it for Spurs at the death, with one shot into the side netting, one swerving wide and another blocked out by McShane.  The Hull legs were starting to go and Spurs looked the more likely team to score for the first time in a while.  Walker, Paulinho and Sigurdsson all had shooting chances before the end, but all failed to hit the target and the final whistle in extra time brought the lottery of penalties ... something we traditionally don't excel at.

Spurs started the shoot-out, with Sigurdsson taking a good penalty to score, then Aaron McLean, who had earlier had a laugh when caught in a painful area by a stray boot by counting what was left in his shorts, stepped up for the first City penalty.  His low shot to Friedel's right saw the keeper grab the ball to keep it out and gave Tottenham the early advantage.  All was going well, as both sides converted their spot kicks and then Erik Lamela stepped up for the fourth Spurs shot.   His low shot was to Jakupovic's left and near the corner, but it didn't quite have enough pace on it to take it past the keeper.  So we were back to level pegging.

As player after player came up and put their kick away, you wondered where it was going to end.  McShane had a close shave, with his shot going in off the underside of the bar and then Kyle Walker's shot went low to the goalie's right and beat his dive to make it 8-7 to Tottenham.  Villain of the piece from Saturday, however much Steve Bruce thought it was a joke, Ahmed Elmohamady then ran up to take his kick and he put it to Friedel's right.  Brad had been progressively going down in slow-motion as the kicks went on, but his body fell the right way and he blocked it with his knees to Spurs through for only the third time on penalties in their history.

So, a night that started with a cracker, went through a few scares and ended with a thrilling shoot-out, but in between, questions are still there.  Was it that the players were swapped so much that they are finding it hard to find a pattern to their play ?  Are the pace men in Townsend and Lennon missing from the line-up making it harder to play wide and forcing play through a congested middle ?  Are we still missing the goal-scorer, who can make something out of nothing ?

These and many more questions made the radio phone-ins, as Spurs fans phoned up complaining about the football, the fact that we are winning, but not by enough goals and that one fan would be happy for us to finish fifth, but to see more entertaining football.

While it was unusual that we own on penalties, it is a little reassuring that some things never change.

Kirk Hammerton