Ange Postecoglou relieved as Spurs squeak past Manchester United and into Carabao semis

Ange Postecoglou saluted his injury-hit squad after Tottenham avoided a late wobble to edge out Manchester United 4-3 in a rip-roaring Carabao Cup quarter-final tie.

Spurs were in cruise control when Dominic Solanke rifled home his second in the 54th minute to add to his first-half opener and Dejan Kulusevski's effort 46 seconds into the second half.

Tottenham’s back-up goalkeeper Fraser Forster pressed the self-destruct button, though, as his two errors set up a nervy finale.

First United substitute Joshua Zirkzee tapped in after Forster’s pass out from the back had been intercepted before Amad Diallo blocked his clearance to make it 3-2 with 20 minutes left.

Postecoglou’s men were teetering on the brink of collapse at this point, but captain Son Heung-min scored directly from a corner with two minutes left despite protestations from Altay Bayindir.

It ensured Jonny Evans’ stoppage-time header was a mere consolation as Spurs, without 10 players, marched on to set up a semi-final against Liverpool and took a big step towards winning a first trophy since 2008.

Carabao Cup semi-final draw
Arsenal v Newcastle
Tottenham v Liverpool
First teams at home week starting 6 January, second legs from 3 February#CarabaoCup

"We played so well, well in control of the game. It’s the way our season has gone a little bit, we self-inflicted some pain on ourselves and then we had to scramble to get a foothold again," Postecoglou reflected.

"It should have been a lot more comfortable than it ended up being but having said that, I still can’t get away from the fact this group of players is doing an unbelievable job at the moment to get us through this.

"We’re in a semi-final of a cup competition, so I think that’s something to reflect this progress