FA CUP
Tottenham 6
Millwall 0
LONDON • An injury to Harry Kane marred Tottenham Hotspur's party, as they marked their last FA Cup tie at their White Hart Lane home with a 6-0 thrashing of third-tier Millwall yesterday to book their place in a loaded semi-final line-up.
England international Kane, the Premier League's joint top scorer, had to hobble off after falling awkwardly and suffering an ankle injury in a sixth-minute challenge during their quarter-final.
Yet, his absence was not missed on the day, as Son Heung Min hammered a brilliant hat-trick and Kane's replacement Christian Eriksen also scored a beauty before Dele Alli and substitute Vincent Janssen got in on the act.
It all made for an emotional occasion at Spurs' storied 118-year-old ground, which they will leave at the end of the season.
It was tempting to say that when Janssen scores, the visiting team know they have problems.
Those of Millwall, however, had taken hold long before the £17 million (S$29 million) striker came off the bench to score his first goal in open play for Tottenham.
This season's FA Cup has been defined by its shock results.
Think of Lincoln City, Sutton United and Eastleigh, or even Oxford United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Millwall's last victory over Tottenham had come in the months before the outbreak of World War II.
This stood to be an upset to rival them all, despite the League One club having arrived on an unbeaten run of 17 matches.
There was never any sense that it would happen and, once Eriksen had put Tottenham in front on the half-hour, the home team showed why there were so many places on the league ladder between the London clubs.
Millwall looked horribly limited and they offered next to nothing as an attacking threat.
Millwall had brought an extraordinary defensive record to White Hart Lane, having conceded only twice in their previous 13 matches - a sequence that took in the FA Cup wins over Bournemouth, Watford and Leicester - but it was blown apart, despite Tottenham playing for almost all of the afternoon without Kane.
Their followers would resort to gallows humour after Janssen had added the fifth.
"Whatever will be will be," they chanted. "We're going to Shrewsbury."
They will visit there next month.
The dark cloud for Tottenham was the ankle injury that forced off Kane in the early running .
The striker, who played on loan at Millwall as an 18-year-old, was forced off in the 10th minute, having landed awkwardly under a challenge from Jake Cooper after unloading a shot on goal from a tight angle.
That had drawn a sharp block out of the young Millwall goalkeeper, Tom King, who looked nervous throughout, and the TV replays showed that Kane had rolled his right ankle.
It did not look good, although the 23-year-old did leave the pitch under his own steam.
Overall, though, for Tottenham there were nothing but positives, with the biggest one being Son's first hat-trick for the club - which took him to 14 goals in all competitions for the season.
All eyes at Tottenham will now turn to tonight's semi-final draw which will take place at Wembley.
REUTERS, THE GUARDIAN
