Ange Postecoglou vindicated on big night for Tottenham - but Man City win comes at cost | OneFootball

Carabao Cup win felt significant but result marred by injury to Micky van de Ven

Tottenham progressed to the Carabao Cup quarter-final with an entertaining 2-1 win over Manchester City, marred by an injury to Micky van de Ven.

Matheus Nunes pulled one back on the stroke of half-time but Spurs were the better side in the second half, with Stefan Ortega making a string of saves in the City goal.

Here are three talking points from the game…

Postecoglou vindicated on big night

This felt like an important result for Tottenham, maintaining their hopes of winning a trophy and at the expense of City - the most successful side in the modern history of this competition.

With the champions eliminated - and Chelsea and Aston Villa also going out on Wednesday - Spurs should feel the Carabao Cup is wide open, representing a great chance for the club to end their 14-year wait for silverware.

The result may have come at a cost - more on that below - but for Ange Postecoglou there was also vindication in his decision to rotate the squad.

The Spurs head coach made five changes from the defeat at Crystal Palace (while City made six) but the hosts played some lovely football at times and would have won by more goals were it not for some outstanding goalkeeping from City’s Ortega.

For Ange Postecoglou there was also vindication in his decision to rotate the squad

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Their two goals were both terrific moves, Werner finishing first-time from Dejan Kulusevski’s cross before Sarr’s 30-yard curler after a well-worked corner routine.

Postecoglou also deserves credit for another smart tactical switch at the interval, withdrawing Sarr and introducing a second holding midfield in Yves Bissouma.

The change helped Spurs to wrestle back the momentum from City, despite Nunes’ back-post finish on the stroke of half-time.

It was the third time in four games Postecoglou has made a sub at the interval and his changes also proved canny in the home wins over West Ham and AZ Alkmaar.

Spurs will now await look forward to a home game against Manchester United in the next round with optimism, amid a sense that this team remains a work in progress but is capable of beating any opponent on their day.

Werner back among the goals

Werner’s night ended sourly as he limped off after pulling up while taking a corner - though Postecoglou afterwards said he hoped he was just suffering from “fatigue”.

The game had started superbly for the German, who ended his wretched run of finishing with his first goal in six months, a lovely strike from inside the box.

Werner just managed to get in front of Rico Lewis to score and you wondered if it was a case of the German having no time to think about the opportunity.

Any hopes that the goal would open the floodgates for Werner proved optimistic, however, as he missed a succession of further chances.

The closest he came to another was when he raced clean through from Dominic Solanke pass but fired wide of the far post after his touch took him away from goal.

Timo Werner ended his wretched run of finishing with his first goal in six months

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In the end, it was something of a characteristic performance from Werner, full of willing running but short of an end product, his goal aside.

Still, it was a night which demonstrated that Werner can still be a decisive player for Spurs, who should not be written off as a useful member of the squad.

Van de Ven injury could be a huge blow

This was another occasion which raised familiar and uncomfortable questions about the schedule, as both teams suffered what looked like serious injuries.

Savinho was stretchered off in the second half, while City also lost Manuel Akanji to an injury in the warm-up.

For Spurs, a big win came at a cost as both Van de Ven and Werner were forced off with suspected muscle injuries, potentially major blows to Postecoglou in problem areas of the squad.

Van de Ven, who surprisingly started at left-back, clutched the back of his right leg after racing back to tackle Savinho inside the first 15 minutes and appeared in real distress as he trudged off the pitch to be replaced by Destiny Udogie.

Micky van de Ven was forced off with a hamstring injury

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Van de Ven missed two months of last season after suffering a hamstring injury at roughly the same stage and given the way he plays - repeatedly sprinting back from Spurs’ high line to make challenges - perhaps one a season is par for the course.

Losing the unique Van de Ven for any length of time, though, would be a considerable blow to a Spurs side who are already short of cover at centre-half and rely on the his recovery pace to help execute Postecoglou’s high-risk game.

Werner, meanwhile, immediately signalled to the bench after taking a second-half corner, and limped around the pitch in apparent discomfort after being subbed.

Postecoglou revealed yesterday that Wilson Odobert has suffered a “serious” setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury and Werner may now join his fellow winger on the sidelines.