After playing a draw away at Middlesbrough, Tottenham held on to a 2-1 win at home to advance to the next stage of the competition despite a late come back surge from the visitors.
Jose Mourinho’s men were up by 2 goals very early on in the match. A second minute gift when Boro’s goalkeeper Tomas Mejias passed the ball to Giovani Lo Celso gave Spurs the first goal. The second came from a nice chip from Erik Lamela after a fine run.
George Saville brought the visitors back into the game with few minutes left on the clock but Middlesbrough were unable to fashion out an equaliser despite a good spell.
Tottenham will travel to Southampton for their fourth round game as they seek a 9th FA Cup trophy.
Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho, said: “Three-nil was so close so many times. I told my players at half-time if we don’t score [to make it] 3-0, then if it went 2-1 we would be in trouble and it happened.
“We knew the opponents were hard. They brought on Gestede and went direct and made problems and when it was 2-1 we knew it was going to be difficult.
“We tried our best. The boys are trying their best. They dealt well with many set-piece situations. We did lots of things well. We conceded the goal, a bit frustrating, but more frustrating was that we did not score three, four or five.”
Former Tottenham FA Cup winning team member and Boro’s boss Jonathan Woodgate said:
“I don’t like losing games and when you gift Tottenham goals like that so early, you’re fearing the worst. But my players showed character and we ran them close.
“If there’s a way to lose then it’s like that – putting a real show on and a real fight. The players gave everything for the shirt.”
On the goalkeeping error which gave Tottenham a lead that proved all important to the outcome of the match Tomas Mejias said:
“We all make mistakes and I won’t hammer anyone for that – we want them to play out from the back.”