Tottenham 4 Burnley 2
As the third round FA Cup replays continued apace yesterday evening, arguably the game of the night came at White Hart Lane in the all Premier League clash between newly promoted Burnley and those regular cup contenders Tottenham Hotspur. After an amazing turnaround saw Spurs triumph 4-2, their fans of a certain vintage might just be dusting off the old Chas and Dave number "Ossie's dream" after this result, as they begin to contemplate another potential long cup run and maybe even a trip to Wembley at the end of it.
It had all looked so promising for the away side, after they had quickly moved into a two goal lead inside the first ten minutes, through goals from Marvin Sordell and Ross Wallace in the first-half.
Spurs are in confident mood these days and have been steadily moving up the league, as they chase an European spot and maybe even the Holy Grail of a Champions League place. They came into the game on the back of a slight hiccup at Crystal Palace, where the new manager euphoria created by Alan Pardew's appointment helped to undermine their London rivals' current self-belief.
Mauricio Pochettino's men may have been suffering some of the after effects of the Palace reversal early on against Burnley, but they quickly began to dispel them as they fought their way back into the tie and began to turn around the match through a composed strike by Paulinho on ten minutes. The manager acknowledged afterwards that it was crucial to score quickly after Burnley's second goal to gain a foothold in the tie.
The contest was back level again when Etienne Capoue smashed an unstoppable shot past Tom Heaton to update the scoreline to 2-2 on the night just before half-time. Spurs were relieved to go into the break all-square and the Argentinian decided to change their tactics for the second-half, a move that seemed to pay off handsomely, as they scored twice in a matter of minutes in the early stages of the second period to gain a firm grip on the game .
Spurs took the lead for the first time in the replay when Vlad Chiriches tucked the ball into the net at the far post on 49 minutes after Heaton had failed to gather a cross, and extended that to 4-2 when the under-fire Roberto Soldado squared the ball for full-back Danny Rose to score from close range three minutes later.
It was a mixed night for £26 million-man Soldado as he continues to try to prove his worth to the side, having previously missed an open goal from just six yards out before half-time and also deflecting Wallace's free-kick into the net early on. He did not score in the game (for the fifth match in a row), but his manager was pleased with his overall performance against the Clarets with two assists to his name in the goals for Paulinho and Rose.
Spurs will face Premier League strugglers Leicester City in the fourth round and will fancy their chances on their current form and with the benefit of home advantage again.