Read Louise Taylor’s match report
Spurs were bereft of moxie and punch for most of that match, and their star players were the worst of the lot. Antonio Conte’s post-match press conference will be interesting ....
The only Spurs players whose performances were close to acceptable in that game were Dier, Davies and Kulusevski. Kane was wretched, Son sloppy, and Winks and Hojbjerg irrelevant. As for Boro, they were all excellent. Jones and Howson were especially notable, and Coburn’s goal will never be forgotten.
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Full-time: Boro 1-0 Spurs
Boro have done it again! After eliminating Manchester United in the previous round, they’ve disposed of Spurs to reach the quarter-final! Their victory is fully deserved, they were the better team throughout and had chances to win it in normal time before 19-year-old Josh Coburn scored a glorious winner in extra-time! Spurs were awful, Conte will start keening again, no doubt, but Boro can party.
ET 30+2 min: Outstanding defending by Boro ... and suddenly Crooks is leading a counter! Balogun takes it into the let-hand side of the box and shoots low for the far corner ... he scuffs it ... but Coburn stretches out a leg and tries to prod it home ... but he can’t connect, mising by a whisker!
ET 30+1 min: Lumley gets down sharply to turn a deflected header by Dier out for another corner.
ET 30 min: Bamba does brilliantly to cut out a low cross by Dier at the near post. Otherwise Kane would have had a tap-in.
ET 29 min: Spurs are coming on strong but making no inroads into a Boro’s massed defence.
ET 28 min: Bamba on, Howson off.
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ET 25 min: Spurs substitution: Scarlett on, Davies off.
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ET 24 min: Crooks loses the ball in midfield. But Son is too slow to take advantage, so Crooks scampers back and relieves him of the ball. A vignette that sums up the difference between the sides today.
ET 22 min: At times like these opposition crowd would normally sing “you’re getting sacked in the morning” at the visiting Premier League manager, for the lark. But if this score stays the same, perhaps Conte will invite the board to sack him in his post-match press conference?
ET 19 min: Lumley saves well from Son. Then he leaps to beat Kane to an incoming cross.
GOAL! Boro 1-0 Spurs (Coburn ET 17)
What a breakthrough! Crooks slipped in Josh Coburn after a throw-in on the right, and the teenager drove to the corner of the six-yard box and thundered the ball past Lloris! If Var were in operation, we’d have to wait to see whether his armpit was offside, but it’s not, so the Riverside erupts!
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ET 16 min: Spurs have reverted to a back three. Evidently Conte was aghast at how often Boro cut them open when they went to a back four, even if Spurs also looked more attacking in that spell.
ET 16 min: Spurs substitution: Reguilon, Kulusevski off. Boro susbtitution: Peltier on, McNair off.
Half-time in extra-time: Boro 0-0 Spurs
Spurs started that period brighter than they had been all match, but they wound up hanging on as Boro tore through them. But in the dying seconds of the period, Kulusevski hared down the left and fizzed in a low cross that Son nearly flicked into the net.
ET 14 min: With Spurs in disarray again, Jones clips a pass to the back post. Tavernier meets it with a sidefooter from six yards. Lloris scrambles it away!
ET 13 min: Another powerful move by Boro, Jones again to the fore. It concludes with Howson booming one over from 20 yards.
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ET 11 min: Serious pressure from Boro! Lloris plunges to the ground to cut out a dangerous low cross.
ET 10 min: “Wouldn’t have said it a year ago but Davies and especially Dier are the ones who kept Spurs in it,” write Yash Gupta. “I don’t have stats but amount of time Spurs have lost the ball in middle third is because midfield is shocking and I’m not surprised as we can’t hold the ball. Boro have been far superior.” Spurs have improved in extra-time but Boro are still well in this.
ET 8 min: Slack pass by Winks is intercepted by Jones, who hares all the way forward and into the Spurs box. He tees up Tavernier, who dithers, losing the shooting chance. But he manages to feed the ball wide to Howson, whose low cross is cleared.
ET 6 min: Coburn and Bola on, Taylor and ... someone else off
ET 5 min: Son takes a corner short to Bergwijn, who has made a big difference since his introduction. He spoons in a dangerous cross. Lumley punches to safety
ET 4 min: Spurs have shifted into a higher gear; they’re running the show now.
ET 2 min: Son miskicks when presented with the ball 12 yards out!
ET 1 min: Kulusevski signal improvement by Spurs as he swaps passes with Kane and rasps a low shot just wide from 20 yards.
End of 90 minutes: Boro 0-0 Spurs
Spurs are lucky to be still in the Cup after being lacklustre for most of the match so far. Crooks and Howson missed glaring chances to head Boro into the lead. Spurs need to improve to take this to penalties, at least.
90+3 min: Kulusevski motors down the right. He clips a cross beyond the far post, where Son arrives at speed and sends a downward header goalward from eight yards. Lumley saves Boro from a sickener!
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90 min: There will be at least three more minutes.
90 min: Howson heads inches wide from the corner! Like Crooks earlier in the half, he was left all alone just yards from goal but couldn’t find the target. Lucky Spurs!
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90 min: What a move by Boro! They stream forward, Tavernier drives into the area and slips in Jones. He shoots low on the run, but Lloris gets down to claw it away!
88 min: Bergwijn plays an incisive pass through to Kane, who’s too slow to get to it before Lumley. And it turns out he was offside anyway.
86 min: Both teams have switched to back fours as they seek a winner before extra-time.
85 min: Dier flings himself at a Son corner at the near post. He glances his header just over from an acute angle.
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83 min: Spurs have replaced Doherty with Royal.
82 min: Bergwijn, who has just been introduced, injects the sort of urgency that Spurs have been missing all game. He cuts into the area and goes for goal ... but is foiled by a wonderful last-gasp tackle by McNair!
81 min: Howson roves forward and plays the ball wide on the right. IT’s worked in to Sporar, who helps it on to Balogun. He’s got room for a shot from 15 yards ... but guides it over the bar. That’s the second god chance Boro have missed in this half, following Crooks’ earlier blooper.
80 min: Doherty was Spurs’ best attacker in the first half but has hardly got forward in the second.
77 min: Son loses the ball in midfield. Boro build forward again. Spurs retreat, which is what they’ve done for most of the second half. Are they playing for penalties?
73 min: Boro substitution: Balogun on, Watmore off.
72 min: Boro have been the better team in the second half, sharper and more coherent. Spurs have been slow and sloppy.
70 min: Sessegnon makes gains down the left and digs out a cross. It floats over Kane, and there’s no other Spurs player in the box.
68 min: Kane fails to control a pass from Sessegnon.
67 min: Spurs’ midfield has been lamentable. Winks and Hojbjerg have let the game pass them by. Son, too. Only Kulusevksi has been consistently decent.
65 min: Howson curls the freekick around the ball but doesn’t get enough bend on it to turn it back into the net. It sails a yard wide.
64 min: Boro have their danders up, led by the excellent Howson. Then Jones cuts in from the right and is tripped at the edge of the area by Winks. That’s a freekick, four yards to the right of the D, one yard outside the box.
63 min:Howson’s delivery mises out Crooks, and Sessesgnon heads clear.
62 min: Another Boro corner. Will Spurs pick up Crooks this time?
61 min: Kane loses possession again on mid-way. He’s had a stinker today.
59 min: Kane scores from a flick-on at a corner and wheels away in delight. But then the home crowd celebrate because the ref rules it out for offside.
58 min: Dier hits a knuckle-ball free-kick from 25 yards. Lumley flings himself to his left to bat it out for a corner.
56 min: Kane, who has been sloppy today, gives the ball away in the Boro half. But Boro lose control of it and Davies pounces, only to be pulled back by McNair. That’s a booking ... but Kane seems to think it should be a red, and his agitation prompts some argy-bargy. Ramires gets a booking for being too obstreperous.
55 min: Dier clears Sporar’s low cross, giving Boro their first corner of the game. Howson curls it in ... and Crooks jumps to meet a free header from five yards! But he nods it over the bar! What a miss!
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52 min:Powerful run by Watmore. He goes past three players and then gets the ball through to Jones, who goes down in the box in the vicinity of Sessegnon. The crowd howl for a penalty but the ref ignores their appeals, quite rightly.
49 min: Kane slips as he takes the freekick and squirts a lame shot into the wall, to the delight of a crowd that has appeared bored for much of this game.
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48 min: Kulusevski is given a freekick after dashing towards the Boro box and going down under a challenge by Howson. Didn’t look like a foul to me but it’s a big chance for Spurs. Kane stands over the freekick just outside the D...
46 min: No personnel changes during the break. But let’s hope the managers found a way to perk up their players, especially Conte because his team have been too passive.
Half-time: Boro 0-0 Spurs
Boro have held their own but neither side have been particularly threatening. Spurs are playing on the break but have lacked precision, Boro have been energetic and tidy but lacked penetration.
45 min: Strong finish to the half by Boro, especially from Howson and Jones, their two most dangerous-looking players so far. But still no sign of penetration.
44 min: Hojbjerg lopes down the right and cross for Sessegnon, whose header is blocked by Jones. Sesessegnon retries and works it back to Son, who plays it across to Doherty to shoot from the edge of the box. His low shot whizzes a couple of yards wide.
41 min: Kane is back defending at the edge of his own six-yard box, hoofing a wicked cross by McNair clear.
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39 min: Her’s one of the counter-attacks! Kane pokes the ball through for the under-lapping Doherty. Lumley charges out of his box to intercept but the Irishman gets to it first and nudges the ball past him and then takes a hurried shot from the corner of the box .... he’s off-balance and lifts it over the bar!
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38 min: Spurs have been playing on the counter-attack for the last 20 minutes or so. they’re absorbing Boro’s possession without much difficulty and looking for opportunities to strike fast on the break.
36 min: Kulusevski intercepts a nod-down by Fry. Then he stabs a nice pass through to Kane, who fails to get on the end of it.
34 min: A long ball over the top of the SPurs defence gives Jones something to run for. He does well to get to it but can’t control the bounce, and Lloris dashes out to claim.
31 min: Intricate probing by Boro around the Spurs’ box. Tavernier injects some dash and nearly breaks through, but doesn’t.
29 min: After a strong spell of possession by Boro, and one promising burst by Jones, Spurs almost catch the hosts on the break. A long ball over the top found Son running clear, but he didn’t get the ball under control quickly enough and was soon overwhelmed by backtracking defedners.
27 min: Watmore slips the ball through to Sporar, whose shot on the spin from 12 yards is blocked.
25 min: Tavernier makes a dart for the Spurs box. He beats on defender but then loses out to Dier. Spurs try to launch a counter, but KUluevski is caught in possession on half way.
23 min: Gleeful cheers as Sessegnon is punished for a foul throw, but Boro then make a mess of their own.
21 min: Sessegnon hasn’t been shy about getting forward today. Dier tries to find him with a long pass from the back. Sessegnon does well to reach it and tries to direct it back to Kane near the penalty spot ... but he’s offside.
19 min: Doherty intercepts a pass on halfway and offloads to Hojbjerg and then skittwrs down the right in anticipation of a through-ball. But Hojbjreg dawdles and has it nicked back off him.
16 min: Play has resumed. Boro string together a few passes in their own half but loses it as they try to move forward. Howson does exceptionally well to hare back and win the ball off Kulusevski.
13 min: Spurs are starting to dominate but Boro are well organised and determined. And now there’s a break in play because Fry and Dijksteel clashed heads after outjumping Kane on half-way.
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10 min: Spurs set up camp around the Boro box. Doherty clips an inviting pass across the face of goal. Sessegnon, charging in beyond the far post, narrowly fails to get on the end of it.
8 min: Sessegnon burst past Jone down the left and into the box. He tries to pick out Kane coming in at the far post, but Fry reads his intentions and make a precious interception.
5 min: Boro are holding their own. They even came close to threatening a moment ago when Tayler won the ball high up and fed Tavernier, who swung a dangerous cross in from the left. Dier was well placed to boot clear.
3 min: Sessegnon wins a corner down the left. Boro turn off and allow Son to take it quick and short to Winks, who fizzes the ball in towards the near post, hoping a teammate can get a touch to help it into the net. But a Boro defender gets to it first and clears.
1 min: And they’re off. Tottenham try to establish control from the start by knocking the ball about but Boro are determined to not let them settle, chasing energetically.
Before kickoff there is a minute’s applause to show support for Ukraine and its people. Everyone in the ground claps, and some hold aloft Ukrainian flags.
There’s a booming, carnival atmosphere at the Riverside as the teams trot out on to the pitch. In case you’re wondering, there is no VAR today.
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Wilder's pre-match thoughts
“I was never going to rest anybody, I’m not so sure the boys would have appreciated being rested in the fifth round of the FA Cup in front of 34,000 punters,” he says before hinting at the approach he wants to see from his team: “It’s a contact sport and I hope everybody sees it that way.” Aaron Connolly, by the way, failed a late fitness test.
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Conte's pre-match pep talk
“We are in a good moment of form despite the defeat against Burnley,” he tells the BBC. “The wins against City and in the last game against Leeds has to give us confidence, This is an important competition. We know today can be difficult but we are ready to play a god game. [The FA Cup} is a trophy and you know very well the importance of winning a trophy - and how difficult that is to do in England, where you have some of the best teams in the world.”
Proof that Conte is taken this serious - and also that he wants to stimulate consistency - comes in the form of an unchanged starting lineup since last weekend’s 4-0 victory at Leeds. Boro, meanwhile, make only one alteration to the side that lost 3-2 to Barnsley at the weekend, with Lea Siliki replaced by the goalscoring hero of the fourth round, Matt Crooks, who returns from suspension.
Boro: Lumley; Dijsteel, Fry, McNair; Jones, Crooks, Howson, Tavernier, Taylor; Watmore, Sporar
Subs: Daniels, Olusanya, Peltier, Bamba, Siliki, Bola, Coburn, Balogun, Boyd-Munce
Spurs: Lloris; Romero, Dier, Davies; Doherty, Hojbjerg, Winks, Sessegnon; Kulusevksi, Son; Kane
Subs: Gollinni, Royal, Reguilon, Rodon, Sanchez, White, Bergwijn, Scarlett
Referee: D England
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to a juicy FA Cup fifth-round tie. Don’t think for a moment that these teams’ minds will be elsewhere even though both are competing hard to rise a few extra places in their respective leagues. Spurs are seventh in the Premier League, grappling for a spot in the top four; and Middlesbrough are eighth in the Championship, battling to reach the playoff positions by the end of the season. But none of that will matter when they go head to head today in a Riverside Stadium that is sold out for the first time in five years. The home fans will be hoping to see a similar performance to the one that enabled Chris Wilder’s team to oust Manchester United at Old Trafford in the last round. Spurs fans, meanwhile, will be hoping for one that doesn’t send Antonio Conte into another paroxysm of despair. Let’s get it on!
