Tottenham breathed a huge sigh of relief after needing extra-time to overcome non-league Tamworth 3-0 in the third round of the FA Cup.
The final scoreline flattered Spurs, who laboured throughout the opening 90 minutes and might well have conceded deep into stoppage time when Tom McGlinchey and Jordan Cullinane-Liburd both went close to scripting one of the competition’s greatest fairytales.
In the end, the Lambs were undone in scrappy fashion as Nathan Tshikuna inadvertently directed his attempted clearance over his own goal line from Brennan Johnson’s cross (101).
Substitute Dejan Kulusevski then doubled the advantage of the eight-times winners as he collected Heung-Min Son’s pass to fire low beyond Tamworth goalkeeper Jas Singh (107), whose partner was watching from hospital after giving birth to a baby boy on Saturday night.
With the hosts running on empty, Johnson blasted in a cruel third for the visitors with two minutes of extra-time remaining (118) as Ange Postecoglou’s side avoided an unwanted upset.
More to follow.