Porro pearler sends Ange's Spurs into FA Cup fourth round
A sensational goal from Pedro Porro saw Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham Hotspur move through to the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 1-0 victory over Burnley.
Porro struck in the 78th minute from outside the box, curling a strike into the top corner that was so perfect, Clarets goalkeeper Arijanet Muric could only stand and admire it.
Postecoglou would have been happy to see his side progress after losing Heung-Min Son to the Asian Cup with Korea Republic as well as Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma to the Africa Cup of Nations.
But his injury-hit squad held firm in a tight encounter, and one moment of genius from Porro was enough to see them into the draw for the next round.
Spurs were far from vintage and a replay at Turf Moor appeared on the cards until Postecoglou watched full-back Porro make the breakthrough with his superb strike.
It earned Tottenham a deserved fourth win from five matches, but Clarets boss Vincent Kompany could take positives after a solid display and they will now concentrate fully on staying in the Premier League.
Anass Zaroury blazed over early on before Wilson Odobert tested Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario with a long-range effort.
Postecoglou had only made two changes for this third-round tie and arguably his strongest available team soon started to click into gear.
Richarlison scuffed wide after a slick move before Brennan Johnson’s curler forced Muric into action.
The stadium was united in applause soon after when the clock struck 16 minutes as a tribute took place for Tottenham fan Harry Pitman, who was killed on New Year’s Eve.
Giovani Lo Celso hooked over at the end of a touching minute’s applause before VAR checked Rodrigo Bentancur’s tackle on Zaroury, but Spurs’ stand-in skipper avoided punishment.
Kompany’s side created their best chance with 27 minutes gone when Zaroury’s scooped pass put Zeki Amdouni through on goal but he fired over, and while the offside flag was raised, it would have counted.
Johnson did flash wide from a Porro centre before half-time, but a drab first 45 ended goalless.
Tottenham was sent out early for the second half and it initially had the desired effect with Dejan Kulusevski driving over, while Lo Celso and Johnson tested Muric.
Spurs were still trying to walk the ball in, though, and groans were audible from the home fans when Kulusevski decided to pass instead of shoot from a promising position.
Lo Celso limped off moments later and Burnley also lost Charlie Taylor to a shoulder injury, which forced Kompany into a triple substitution with Nathan Redmond amongst those introduced.
Johnson had called Muric into action again by this point with a volley into the ground before the hosts had half-hearted penalty appeals waved away when the attacker went down after slight contact by Josh Brownhill.
A replay at Turf Moor seemed to loom large as the seconds ticked away, but Porro had other ideas.
Moments after Richarlison failed to get on the end of Kulusevski’s cross, Porro won back possession from Ameen Al-Dakhil and let fly from 25 yards, with his dipping effort nestling into the corner.
Tottenham substitute Ryan Sessegnon nearly put the game to bed in the 86th minute but Muric saved and Burnley’s goalkeeper almost set up a late leveller from a corner only for Amdouni to volley wide.
