Tottenham Hotspur have not won a trophy since Jonathan Woodgate headed the decisive goal in the 2008 League Cup final against Chelsea.
Almost 12 years on Woodgate has re-invented himself as a young manager of considerable promise whose Middlesbrough side ensured that if José Mourinho’s Spurs class of 2020 are to win this season’s FA Cup they will have to do it the hard way.
The bright young Championship side fully deserved their replay in North London after a game which both emphasised the revitalisation task confronting Mourinho and suggested that Woodgate really is breathing new life into Boro.
The Riverside was a VAR free zone but its controversial presence might, just might, have helped Boro’s cause when Hayden Coulson’s early shot seemed to brush Serge Aurier’s hand. The referee, Stuart Attwell, refused to buy it but that little cameo was not the only first half moment when Mourinho’s revamped back three – featuring Eric Dier on the right of the trinity – rode their luck.
When Paddy McNair’s cross provoked visiting consternation Paulo Gazzaniga performed wonders to keep Dael Fry’s header out before doing extremely well to repel George Saville’s follow up shot. As the ball richocheted, Bagatelle style, around the area Saville had a second shot cleared off the line by Dier.
From Woodgate’s viewpoint it was a highly encouraging cameo, vindicating Boro’s bold high pressing style but there were other, sometimes prolonged passages of play in which Tottenham dictated midfield with autocratic swagger.
There were interludes when Christian Eriksen – a surprise inclusion in a strong, only lightly refreshed, Mourinho selection – enjoyed so much space and time it was if he were playing protected by a personal Cordon Sanitaire.
Yet even if McNair was slightly fortunate not to have registered an own goal when he inadvertently deflected an Eriksen cross inches wide, half-time arrived with the score goalless and Boro still playing with the confidence of a team bolstered by four straight Championship wins. With Tottenham largely restricted to long range speculation, Dele Alli’s frustration reached the point where he was booked for diving as the interval beckoned.
Five minutes after Ashley Fletcher left Mourinho scowling after Saville’s perfectly timed lofted through pass sent the under composed striker racing into the area with only Gazzaniga to beat. Although the goalkeeper touched his resultant shot he could not hold it and Fletcher, played onside by Dier, celebrated his fourth goal in five games.
Tottenham made half hearted protests that he had been offside after all but they fell on deaf ears and aware that Patrick Roberts, a Manchester City loanee winger making his home debut, was exerting increasing influence, Mourinho re-set his tactics.
Off came Ryan Sessegnon and Harry Winks as he introduced Giovani Lo Celso and Erik Lamela before, immediately, reverting to a back four. It brought almost instant dividends when Aurier – one of the better visiting performers – accelerated down the right before crossing superbly for Lucas Moura to dodge Djed Spence and head the equaliser. It represented a rare lapse in concentration among a commendably disciplined home defence.
Tomás Mejías would subsequently make a quite brilliant save to keep the now impressive Moura’s deceptively curving, high velocity, right foot shot out but Boro were on course for a replay Mourinho could do without.
