TOTTENHAM BREEZE INTO FOURTH ROUND
Tottenham Hotspur continued their impressive start to life under Thomas Frank with a comfortable 3-0 win over Doncaster Rovers in the EFL Cup third round.
The Spurs boss made seven changes from the team that started the 2-2 draw with Brighton at the weekend, but there was still a strong look to the Spurs XI, and they began the game well, with Archie Gray and Xavi Simons pulling the strings in midfield and wingers Wilson Odobert and Brennan Johnson causing havoc with their pace.
An audacious overhead kick from Joao Palhinha got the home side on the board after 15 minutes, when a poor clearance dropped nicely for the Portugal international, who played at centre-back on the night, to turn flamboyantly on target.
And Spurs were soon two to the good when Odobert’s dangerous run and cross forced a close-range own goal off the unfortunate Jay McGrath.
Chances went begging throughout for Spurs, with Mathys Tel the most profligate and Doncaster goalkeeper Ian Lawlor making some decent saves. But the visitors were not without their threat either, troubling Tottenham for long periods after the break and with Owen Bailey drawing an excellent save out of Antonin Kinsky.
Doncaster huffed and puffed, but it was the home fans who were given two more reasons to cheer late on, first with a debut appearance for 16-year-old academy prospect Luca Williams-Barnett, and then for a stoppage-time third by the impressive Johnson, finished clinically after a lightning break.
