Tottenham 1-1 Norwich: Tim Krul stars as Canaries win 3-2 on penalties to reach FA Cup quarter-finals and condemn Spurs to fourth straight defeat
Right now is not a happy time to be a Tottenham fan.
Spurs are out of the FA Cup following a toothless home performance which ended in defeat on penalties against the Premier League’s bottom side and ensured that they have now been beaten four games in succession.
The defeat, courtesy of Norwich goalkeeper and shoot-out specialist Tim Krul’s low saves from Troy Parrott and Gedson Fernandes’ weak spot-kicks, saw a continuation of all the problems they have encountered in recent weeks.
There was no new magic formula to overcome the problems Jose Mourinho seems to have revelled in moaning about.
Spurs were disappointing and disjointed across the pitch, while Norwich were good value for their second stirring victory in a week, which gives them hope of climbing out of the relegation zone.
Spurs sitting in
Tottenham were at home against basement dwellers who had won five of 28 league games this season.
As Mourinho has been at pains to tell us, Spurs are short of strikers. Now that we have seen him for just the fourth time this season, at least we know what Parrott’s hair looks like.
But the young striker, whose championing by some fans Mourinho had derided, did not leave the bench until the 96th minute and his only contribution was to send a penalty onto Krul’s outstretched gloves.
Instead it was left to the same rag-tag bunch of midfielders to lead the charge. And for 20 minutes they did – although it was a Jan Vertonghen header from Giovani Lo Celso’s free-kick which gave them the lead early on.
After the breakthrough the fans were subjected to the now familiar sight of seeing last year’s Champions League finalists sitting deep at home and looking to hit their supposedly inferior opponents on the counter-attack.
Alli frustrated
In theory at least, Dele Alli was the No9 for Spurs. In practice, though, he merely acted as the embodiment of their frustration, spending more time shouting and waving his hands around at team-mates than linking up with them in the final third.
It was Alli who stood in among the Norwich defenders as Serge Aurier bombarded the penalty area with hopeful cross.
And it was Alli who stood unmarked in the penalty area when Krul saved from Lucas Moura just before half-time after the Brazilian opted to shoot instead of pass.
Lo Celso tested Krul early on, but in general he, Steven Bergwijn and Moura did little to make Mourinho’s chosen formation work for Spurs. In the end it was Aurier who should have saved them from extra-time – and ultimately defeat on penalties – only for Ben Godfrey to clear his 86th-minute shot off the line.
Sting in the tail
While Spurs played the blunt counter-attacking role to a tee, Norwich did their best as a pretty yet ineffective possession-based side.
Todd Cantwell and Emi Buendia played plenty of attractive one-touch passes around the box, but Spurs’ defence, led by Eric Dier, repelled them until late on.
However, the Canaries’ efforts were helped by the hapless Michel Vorm, who twice spilled straightforward attempts from Lukas Rupp and, tellingly, Kenny McLean which allowed Josip Drmic to bundle in a deserved equaliser.
Extra-time passed with little event, barring a low stop from Krul to keep out Lo Celso’s drive, and many attacks foiled by tired legs.
Vorm tried to make up for his earlier mistakes by stopping McLean’s opening penalty, but it was Krul who made the telling contribution, saving twice after Erik Lamela sent his effort over from 12 yards.
Norwich’s reward is a tie against the winner of Derby’s match with Manchester United tomorrow evening.
Mourinho’s is another opportunity to put on a glum expression and emphasise just how difficult his job is with the players available to him.