Tottenham Hotspur got out of jail to reach a second successive Carling Cup final after a dramatic 3-2 defeat by Burnley at Turf Moor.
Second consecutive final for holders after brave Burnley sunk
Tottenham Hotspur got out of jail to reach a second successive Carling Cup final after a dramatic 3-2 defeat by Burnley at Turf Moor.
Burnley, who had already knocked three Premier League clubs out of the competition this season, were on course for a Wembley trip to face Manchester United after coming back from a 4-1 first-leg deficit.
Owen Coyle's men posted a 3-0 scoreline in 90 minutes and were on course for an away goals success until Spurs scored twice in the latter stages of extra-time.
Robbie Blake, who scored a stunning free-kick in last weekend's local derby against Preston North End, repeated the trick on 34 minutes as he caught out Spurs' debutant keeper Ben Alnwick with a fine curling effort from 25 yards.
Gareth Bale missed a great chance for Spurs before Blake created the Clarets' second on 73 minutes as he tricked his way into the box before rolling the ball across goal to provide Chris McCann with a simple tap-in.
Spurs substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko then missed a golden chance to score, as he steered his shot wildly off target from close range before Burnley scored a third goal with two minutes left in normal time.
A deep free-kick into the box was dropped by Alnwick and substitute Jay Rodriguez, who has scored cup winners against Fulham and QPR this season, reacted instinctively to side-foot home.
With Burnley seemingly set to survive extra-time unscathed, Spurs caught the Championship club with a sucker punch with less than three minutes left on the clock.
Pavlyuchenko swept home Benoit Assou-Ekotto's pass and then, with Burnley pressing for a goal to take the tie to penalties, Jermain Defoe drilled home on the counter-attack to keep Spurs' hopes of retaining the cup alive.
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp made six changes from the side which stumbled to a 1-1 home draw against Portsmouth on Sunday, yet none of his players made a favourable impression.
Pace and vigour
Debutant keeper Alnwick was at fault for Burnley's first and third goals as Coyle's men attacked with pace and vigour from the outset.
Blake, Chris Eagles and Wade Elliott were willing to support striker Martin Paterson at every opportunity .
Burnley almost took a freak lead in the sixth minute when Assou-Ekotto attempted to find Alnwick with a routine back-pass.
His touch was far too heavy and his lofted pass almost lobbed Alnwick, who made a fine one-handed save to turn the ball aside for a corner.
It was a warning to Tottenham and sparked the home crowd into life.
Yet the Clarets fans were almost silenced two minutes later when recalled winger David Bentley swung in a corner from the left.
The former Blackburn man was subjected to vicious abuse from the Burnley fans because of his Ewood Park links, and two missiles - one a toilet roll - were thrown in his direction.
Bentley remained calm, and his dangerous inswinging delivery was headed just over the bar by Jonathan Woodgate.
Of Tottenham's starting line-up, Woodgate and Didier Zokora were the only two survivors from the side which beat Chelsea 2-1 in last year's final.
McCann rifled a low shot wide of Alnwick's left-hand post in the 22nd minute, just after Bentley was booked for a cynical foul on Eagles.
On the half-hour mark, a piece of delightful interplay between Eagles and Elliott on the edge of the visitors' 18-yard box gave the former a shooting opportunity that was deflected clear.
Yet the hosts continued to probe and were rewarded in style in the 34th minute when Blake claimed a brilliant opener.
Woodgate fouled Joey Gudjonsson 25 yards out and to the right of Alnwick's goal, but the rookie shot-stopper allowed Blake to whip in a curling free-kick which beat him at his near post.
Suddenly, Turf Moor sensed the kind of upset Coyle had described beforehand when he said his side would need to "scale Everest and beyond" to progress to the final.
However, the pendulum swung in Tottenham's favour after the break - and Bentley combined with Defoe to provide Luka Modric with a shooting opportunity on the edge of the penalty area in the 48th minute.
Rewarded
The Croatia playmaker hit a left-foot shot over the bar, and in the 64th minute substitute Bale outpaced the Burnley defence down the left and drove a cross-shot hopelessly wide of the far post.
Burnley continued to probe and were rewarded in the 73rd minute when Blake showed nimble footwork to outfox Chris Gunter and fire a low cross to the far post, where McCann was lurking to side-foot the ball home.
The Clarets had Spurs on the ropes, and their fightback appeared complete when Rodriguez prodded in a loose ball after Alnwick fumbled Blake's free-kick.
Tottenham began extra-time purposefully, and Tom Huddlestone's long-range shot drew a smart stop from Jensen at his near post.
In the 118th minute, Pavlyuchenko rifled home a left-foot shot from six yards - and Defoe curled home a second moments later.
| Burnley |
Team Statistics |
Tottenham Hotspur |
| 3 |
Goals |
2 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 4 |
Shots on Target |
9 |
| 7 |
Shots off Target |
7 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
6 |
| 8 |
Corners |
4 |
| 21 |
Fouls |
11 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
4 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 63.5 |
Passing Success |
65.4 |
| 28 |
Tackles |
40 |
| 85.7 |
Tackles Success |
80 |
| 54.6 |
Possession |
45.4 |
| 53.3 |
Territorial Advantage |
46.7 |
|
