Tottenham Hotspur squeezed past Coventry City in the Carabao Cup third round as Spurs came from behind to beat the Championship side.
Brennan Johnson scored a 92-minute winner against Mark Robins’ side to save a heavily rotated Ange Postecoglou line-up. The Aussie coach made eight changes from the weekend’s defeat to Arsenal.
For the majority of the tie, Spurs looked thoroughly underwhelming as they failed to muster a single shot in the first half. Coventry took the lead just after the hour mark as the North London club looked set for another embarrassing cup exit.
But on came the cavalry, as Dejan Kulusevski set up Djed Spence to score the equaliser before Johnson’s audacious finish won the tie late on.
Postecoglou’s ‘crazy’ Djed Spence decision
Tottenham media were left impressed by the substitute performance of Spence who came off the bench to score.
However, his strong cameo off the bench only raised further questions as to why Postecoglou decided not to include Spence in Spurs’ Europa League squad. Postecoglou instead included a fourth goalkeeper by picking Fraser Forster.
The defender will now have to wait until after the group stages to see whether he will get to play any European football this season.
The media react to Djed Spence’s display vs Coventry
Spence was given an 8 out of 10 but Football.London who wrote: “Came on for the second half and made a good interception in his own box.
“Was one of Spurs’ best players and deserved his goal, which came after showing real desire to run through and prod the ball home. Crazy that he can’t play in Europe in the months ahead.”
The Evening Standard were also impressed by the defender’s display giving him a seven and stating: “Showed great desire to score his first Spurs goal. Raced back to make a crucial tackle on Norman Bassette and was feisty on a rare appearance.”
Meanwhile, LondonWorld also gave him a seven, claiming: “Brilliant goal to restore hope when many had given up.”
Receive a digest of our best Spurs content each week direct to your mailbox
