Tottenham crash out of FA Cup after 1-0 loss to Sheffield United

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Tottenham crash out of FA Cup after 1-0 loss to Sheffield United

Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min reacts after Sheffield United's Iliman Ndiaye scores during an FA Cup match at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, England on Wednesday.  [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min reacts after Sheffield United's Iliman Ndiaye scores during an FA Cup match at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, England on Wednesday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

 
Benjamin Franklin famously said that only two things are certain in this life: Death and taxes. Had he been alive 200 years later, the great American statesman might have added Tottenham Hotspur blowing yet another trophy opportunity.
 
Spurs lost 1-0 to Sheffield United in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Wednesday, getting knocked out of the competition by a Championship side instead of dominating what should have been a very predictable game.
 
Tottenham dominated for the majority of the match at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, but they failed to do anything with the possession. Attempts on goal were few and far between and a lot of touches were wasted with poor passes and bad decision making.
 
Cristian Stellini, still covering for the absent Antonio Conte, made six changes from the squad that beat Chelsea at the weekend, resting Harry Kane, Dejan Kulusevski and Cristian Romero.
 
Son Heung-min started up front alongside Richarlison and Lucas Moura, who was making his first start since Nov. 1. Pedro Porro, who’s Tottenham career has got off to headline-stealingly bad start, also made the starting XI, as did Ivan Perisic, Pape Matar Sarr and Davinson Sánchez.
 
Tottenham's Son Heung-min, left, and Sheffield United's George Baldock fight for the ball during an FA Cup fifth round match at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, England on Wednesday.  [AP/YONHAP]

Tottenham's Son Heung-min, left, and Sheffield United's George Baldock fight for the ball during an FA Cup fifth round match at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, England on Wednesday. [AP/YONHAP]

 
Kane and Kulusevski did both eventually make it on to the pitch, as did the hero against Chelsea Oliver Skipp and the rarely seen Arnaut Danjuma. None of the new legs made any real difference as Tottenham continued to struggle to produce in front of goal.
 
Instead, it was Sheffield substitute Iliman Ndiaye that finally came through in the 79th minute to break the deadlock, beating Fraser Forster at the near post to secure the win for the Blades.
 
Adding insult to injury, Tottenham cannot even fall back on the old weakened squad argument to explain away Wednesday’s loss as Sheffield, currently in a race to earn promotion out of the Championship, made eight changes from their regular starting XI to save key players for their upcoming trip to Blackburn.
 
In fact, the Sheffield squad that held off Spurs this week was weaker than the one that very nearly lost to fifth-tier Wrexham on two occasions in the fourth round of the cup, raising yet more questions for Spurs as another chance at their first trophy in 15 years slips through their fingers.
 
Speaking after the game, Stellini defended the player selection and said the issue was a lack of energy.
 
“I think the team we chose to play the game was fine,” Stellini said. “We used a good team to play this game against this type of opponent. The problem was the energy. When the energy is not at the same level as your opponent sometimes you lose.  
 
“We had the opportunity to score but we never found the target. Every time we shot out of the target. If we want to score we have to find the target. This was the problem for the me. The problem was the energy we have to use in this type of game.
 
“It's not about motivation. I don't think it's about motivation. It's about maybe if you don't play consistently, maybe sometimes you try to manage the energy to arrive at the end of the game. Or you drop the energy from the start because you think the game is easy. Our games are never easy. We need to be more consistent, this is about mentality.”
 
Tottenham last won the FA Cup in 1991 and have failed to make it past the fifth round for the last five seasons. Last year they were knocked out in the fifth round by second-division Middlesbrough, in 2021 by Everton and in 2020 by Norwich City.
 
With the Carabao Cup already completed and Spurs now knocked out of the FA Cup, the London club remains active in two major competitions: The Premier League and the UEFA Champions League.
 
Spurs lost the first leg of their champions league round of 16 clash with AC Milan 1-0 on the road last month, and will play the second leg at home next week.
 
In the Premier League, Spurs currently sit in fourth place on 45 points, four points ahead of Newcastle in fifth and four points behind Manchester United in third. With two games in hand over Newcastle and one over sixth-place Liverpool, holding on to a spot in the top four and a Champions League berth next season is now the club’s top priority.
 
Tottenham will take on Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Saturday. The Spurs-Wolves game normally provides some exciting intrigue for Korean football fans, but the chance to see Son face off against national team teammate Hwang Hee-chan will be absent this year as the younger midfielder remains out with a hamstring injury.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]
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