Burnley 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1
It was a contest only Sam Vokes will care to remember with any fondness. The Burnley striker, sidelined since March with a cruciate ligament injury, came off the bench to deny Tottenham Hotspur a home tie against Leicester City in round four with a fine equaliser at Turf Moor. There was nothing to separate or savour between the Premier League teams.
Spurs led through Nacer Chadli’s ninth goal of the season and appeared destined for victory until the Wales international scored his first goal since March in only his second appearance of the season for Sean Dyche’s side. The Burnley manager is seeking a new striker in the January transfer window but Vokes’s return was a reminder of what a player already at his disposal can deliver.
The match-day programme reminisced about the 1962 FA Cup final between Burnley and Spurs but there was little romanticism about the timing of their latest cup encounter. The tie was switched not for television purposes but after the two clubs agreed to give themselves extra recovery time from their new year’s day fixtures, a decision that had an inevitable impact on the attendance. The Jimmy McIlroy Stand was closed for the evening. At least the two managers fielded strong teams, albeit with Harry Kane rested on Spurs’ bench and Sean Dyche’s options reduced by several injuries sustained in the 3-3 draw at Newcastle United.
It would be stretching it to claim the spectacle was worth the wait.
Mauricio Pochettino’s team enjoyed plenty of possession in the first half but their final ball or touch was often found wanting. Tom Heaton did not have a save to make in the Burnley goal before the interval while his opposite number, Michel Vorm, was similarly underemployed.
The home side, buoyed by decent draws at St James’ Park and Manchester City in the past eight days, pressed to good effect but were unable to release Danny Ings or Ashley Barnes behind the Spurs defence and the contest had the air of a reserve team outing long before the referee, Roger East, brought respite with the half-time whistle. Pity the poor Burnley fan who had travelled from New Zealand to be here.
Tottenham’s impressive travelling support of almost 4,000 was given another reminder of how toothless their side can be without Kane. Roberto Soldado was easily shackled by Michael Keane and Ben Mee, the Burnley defence coping well without their injured captain, Jason Shackell, while the advanced Paulinho was anonymous. Pochettino had seen enough by half-time and introduced Kane for the midfielder Benjamin Stambouli.
The arrival of Tottenham’s 15-goal striker enlivened the away section and a sterile cup tie. Federico Fazio had the game’s first effort on target after 47 minutes when, from Chadli’s inswinging cross from the left, the central defender sent a glancing header into the arms of Heaton. Soldado had a shot deflected wide, Kane scuffed a low drive beyond the far post and, at the opposite end, Danny Ings tested Vorm with a powerful shot that the Spurs goalkeeper gathered as Michael Kightly closed in.
Turf Moor finally had a contest worthy of the name but it was the visitors who carried greater intensity and broke the most moribund of deadlocks simply. Maybe it was complacency after a comfortable night’s work or just a momentary lapse in concentration but the Burnley defence left Chadli unmarked when Ben Davies delivered a deep cross from the left. The Belgium international had time inside the area to control with his chest before beating Heaton with a left-footed shot into the corner.
Kane almost doubled Spurs’ advantage immediately when he broke into the area on the right and forced Heaton to save with his legs at the near post.
Burnley’s threat increased as the tie wore on and Dean Marney came close to an equaliser after Vokes and George Boyd combined well down the left to release the midfielder inside the box. Marney’s shot flew over but Vokes made no mistake moments later when Kightly raced to the by-line and pulled the ball back towards the penalty spot. Tottenham’s defence were slow to react but Vokes showed his instincts have not been diminished by injury and swept a fine finish beyond Vorm into the far corner.
(Guardian service)
