Pedro Porro stunner sinks Burnley to send Spurs into FA Cup fourth round

It had been possible to feel the demons circling from Tottenham’s previous cup tie; their only one before this under Ange Postecoglou. Back in August, the manager had made sweeping changes at Fulham in the Carabao Cup and watched his team exit on penalties. Postecoglou knew that he could ill afford a repeat.

The second half of the season might have come to look rather stripped back, especially with no European football. Tottenham 1 0 Burnley, Brentford 1 1 Wolves, Fulham 1 0 Rotherham: FA Cup – as it happened Read more He went with his strongest available lineup and, after an encouraging opening, it all went a little flat.

His players looked heavy legged. Burnley , whose clear priority is Premier League survival, have looked better in recent weeks. Were they about to enjoy an FA Cup tonic? Pedro Porro would dismantle the notion, making the decisive intervention as the clock ticked down towards a winter break disrupting replay.

It was a goal that advertised his tenacious pressing and the purity of his shooting technique. Spurs had offered little in the second half and when Richarlison allowed a half chance to slip away, Postecoglou put his hands up to his face. Enter Porro. He stepped high to win possession from Zeki Amdouni as Burnley tried to build immediately from the back and, when he put his laces through the ball, it fairly arrowed into the far top corner.

It was some way to score his first goal of the season, some way to drive Spurs into the next round. Postecoglou had said on Thursday that he had no regrets over his selection against Fulham. He is not the type of guy to second guess himself. There was no messing about here and it had to feel good to be able to name Micky van de Ven and Ryan Sessegnon among the substitutes.

The notable absentee was Eric Dier, who was not in the match day squad. The out of favour centre half, who is out of contract at the end of the season, is of interest to Bayern Munich. And why would he not be interested in them? Personal terms will not be a problem. As of kick off time, there had been no direct contact between Spurs and Bayern.

Postecoglou got a fast start, his players finding their touches, moving the ball slickly. There had been an early VAR check for an ankle tap by Anass Zaroury on Destiny Udogie. There was not enough in it but Spurs were in the mood to force things at the outset, to see whether they could threaten Burnley’s cup goalkeeper, Arijanet Muric.

The 6ft 5in Kosovo international was one of five changes made by Vincent Kompany from last Saturday’s defeat at Aston Villa, the manager giving opportunity to a few other fringe players – Hannes Delcroix, Aaron Ramsey and Zaroury. Spurs advertised the breakthrough in the opening 15 minutes, Richarlison twice surged up the channels only to finish tamely.

The first one was the better chance, Oliver Skipp playing the final pass and it was disappointing to see Richarlison drag past the far post. Spurs snapped into tackles high up and there was also the moment when Brennan Johnson cut inside from the left and shaped a curler for the far corner. Muric made a smart save.

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We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion Postecoglou’s players ran into problems, the tempo ebbing from their play over the remainder of the first half; the ideas, too. Burnley grew. It had been possible for them to be fearful on 22 minutes when Josh Cullen stretched into a yellow card tackle on Giovani Lo Celso.

But wait. Why was the VAR checking for serious foul play? It was not that serious. Kompany turned on his heel, gesturing in irritation. Surely not? Thankfully, there was no further action. It was Burnley who created the clearest opening of the first period. Amdouni played a give and go with Zaroury and what a return ball it was from the winger; outside of the boot, lifted over the Spurs backline.

Amdouni waited for the bounce, which did not really work for him and then his touch was poor. Checking back, he ended up blazing high. It was a let off for Spurs; a reminder, maybe. Johnson would volley off target from a Porro cross – he did not get a clean look at the ball – and it was plain that Postecoglou needed more in the second half.

It was noticeable how Postecoglou sent his players out early for the second period. And that Muric began to delay his goal kicks. The crowd gave vent to their frustration. It was all feeling a bit predictable from a Spurs point of view. They needed faster passes, more incision. Dejan Kulusevski cut inside and curled high; Johnson got a volley all wrong.

Burnley were comfortable, Charlie Taylor pulling off an outrageous flicked pass to illustrate the point. Postecoglou swapped the ineffective Lo Celso for Bryan Gil and moved Kulusevski into a No 10 role. The home crowd tried to lift their team, the feeling taking hold that it might be one of those nights when only one moment was needed.

Porro would provide it. There was still time for a final scare that saw Burnley keeper Muric flick on a corner in the dying seconds, with Amdouni firing the knockdown just inches over..