Iliman Ndiaye’s 79th minute winner ensured Sheffield United eliminated Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at Bramall Lane in the Fifth Round of 2022-23 FA Cup.
Substitute, Ndiaye pounced upon a bouncing deflection and calmly rifled in from close-range to send the Blades through to the Quarter-Finals.
Tottenham however had dominated much of the game as Ivan Perisic wasted their best opportunity, with his 47th minute flicked header saved by Wes Foderingham.
Sheffield Utd now are in the Quarter-Finals for the third time in four seasons where they will host Blackburn, whilst Tottenham exit at this stage for the second consecutive season.
Under Paul Heckingbottom, Sheffield Utd have adopted an aggressive attacking style which almost made an instant impact four minutes in, as Ben Osborn skipped into the box only to cut back to Andre Brooks whose cross was blocked by Pedro Porro.
Brooks however four minutes later almost conceded an early goal to Tottenham as he played a poor backpass which Son Heung-min latched onto, but the South Korea international opted for a cutback pass to Richarlison but the Brazilian’s shot was blocked.
Son then was again involved in Spurs’ next opportunity seven minutes later as he picked up a pass and curled towards the bottom-left corner, only for Foderingham to make a comfortable save.
Sheffield Utd though were resilient in their defensive marking as they continued to limit Spurs’ attacking opportunities, which saw Pape Matar Sarr limited to a long-range 21st minute shot towards the bottom-left corner which was saved by Foderingham.
Eric Dier then saw penalty appeals waved away by referee – John Brooks in the 25th minute, having stumbled to ground following contact with Jack Robinson during a melee from a corner-kick.
Richarlison wasted a further opportunity to put the visitors ahead as he lashed Davinson Sanchenz’s 29th minute long pass over the bar.
Tottenham though continued to lack the final touch throughout the last 15 minutes before half-time, as the Blades defended robustly to keep their North-London visitors out.
Ismaila Coulibaly though could of fired Utd ahead at the break after he pounced upon a 42nd minute defensive mix-up between Eric Dier and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, yet he could only smash his shot into the side-netting as the score remained goalless at half-time.
Neither manager opted to make a half-time change but Tottenham started the second half with higher intensity, which saw Son draw a 47th minute foul from George Baldock, who then blocked Perisic’s cross from which the Croatian’s flick-on of the corner kick was saved.
Lucas Moura, Son and Richarlison wasted further chances whilst Billy Sharp and Anel Ahmedhodzic both missed opportunities for the Blades, although Ahmedhodzic was offside as he fired wide of the near-right corner.
Neither team were able to carve out many clear-cut chances until Ndiaye pounced upon a bouncing deflection, from which he calmly swivelled into space inside the box and rifled into the near-left corner under Dier’s legs to put the Blades ahead.
Tottenham’s hopes of a comeback however failed to materialise as Harry Kane missed their best chance, as he headed wide from Perisic’s injury-time cross.
Sheffield Utd now advance to the Quarter-Finals whilst Tottenham once again suffer a Fifth Round exit for the fourth consecutive season, of which three of those exits were broadcast live on BBC – either linear or via red button.
Elsewhere
Two converted penalties from Gavan Holohan saw League Two’s Grimsby Town stun Premier League’s Southampton 2-1, despite Duje Caleta-Car producing a consolatory goal for the Saints after he conceded the second spot-kick.
Connor Roberts’ 90th minute flick-in goal saw Burnley scrape past ten-men Fleetwood Town to clinch a 1-0 win at home, with the visitors reduced to ten men at the break with Cian Hayes red carded.
Manchester United fought back from one goal down to defeat West Ham 3-1 at Old Trafford, courtesy of Nayef Aguerd’s own goal and strikes from Alejandro Garnacho and Fred after Said Benrahma had put the Hammers ahead.
What’s Next?
Sheffield Utd switch their focus back to their automatic promotion challenge in the Sky Bet Championship, as the Blades visit Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park on Saturday 4 March in a 12:30pm GMT kick-off.
Tottenham meanwhile head to Wolves at 3pm on the same date in a must-win Premier League clash, as they look to boost their play-off hopes.
Teams
Sheffield United: Wes Foderingham, George Baldock (Lowe 62′), Chris Basham, Anel Ahmedhodzic, Jack Robinson, Ben Osborn, Tommy Doyle, Ismaila Coulibaly (Berge 62′), Andre Brooks (Ndiaye 73′), James McAtee(Fleck 84′), Billy Sharp
Substitutes: Adam Davies, Max Lowe, Sai Sachdev, Oliver Norwood, John Fleck, Sander Berge, Ilimay Ndiaye, Daniel Jebbison, Oli McBurnie
Tottenham Hotspur: Fraser Forster, Davinson Sanchez, Eric Dier, Ben Davies, Pedro Porro (Danjuma 82′), Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Pape Matar Sarr (Skipp 73′), Ivan Perisic, Son Heung-min, Lucas Moura (Kulusevski 73′), Richarlison (Kane 65′)
Substitutes: Brandon Austin, Japhet Tanganga, Cristian Romero, Clement Lenglet, Oliver Skipp, Alfie Devine, Dejan Kulusevski, Arnaut Danjuma, Harry Kane
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