Tottenham 6-0 Millwall Seven Things: Winks-Wanyama works

A brace for Heung-Min Son – hitc.com

A controlled display saw Tottenham Hotspur progress to the FA Cup semi-finals by sweeping aside League One Millwall 6-0 – but what have we learnt from the game?

Millwall were too defensive

When Neil Harris started two strikers in Steve Morrison and Lee Gregory plus attacking wingers, Jed Wallace and Aiden O’Brien, his plan appeared to be a high-intensity start. Instead, Wallace and O’Brien dropped just in front of full-backs Mahlon Romeo and Tony Craig respectively. This isolated Morrison and Gregory, known for their industry rather than pace, against an athletic Tottenham back-line of Eric Dier, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen. If the ‘Morro-Greggers’ pairing was to work against the best defence in England, they needed support from midfield, which their teammates didn’t offer.

Tottenham’s strong start

Millwall’s central midfielders Shaun Williams and Ben Thompson were overrun as Heung-Min Son found pockets of space, his tight-angled shot forcing a save from Tom King on four minutes. Spurs attacked down the right with Kieran Trippier getting forward to deliver crosses, Dele Alli showing good movement and Vertonghen sustaining pressure in the opposing half.

The W-W pairing

Harry Winks and Victor Wanyama complimented each other’s qualities well in the previous round against Fulham and that trend continued. Winks read the game well with good positional awareness and swift switching of play. Wanyama provided the raw power which struck fear into a Millwall team that has built it’s cup runs and League One promotion push on tenacity and heart.

Millwall’s lack of quality

The Lions did have a briefly positive spell midway through the first half in which they got some crosses into the box. The deliveries from Williams however, from set pieces and in open play, left a little to be desired. The times when Millwall had lots of men in the box were always likely to be rare and they needed to capitalize on those situations.

Three great goals

Harry Kane came off injured on seven minutes. That was worrying for the Tottenham in terms of their season, but not in the context of the match. Replacement Christian Eriksen struck a fine right footed strike into the far corner on 30 minutes. Son, who moved further forward in Kane’s absence, scored two fine strikes either side of half-time. The first was a sumptuous left-footed effort from range, the second an exquisite first time finish after Alderweireld showed vision to release the forward one-on-one.

Millwall bow out

Millwall’s second half substitute Fred Onyedinma looked bright and showed pace to square for Wallace, who fired over from close range. His miss didn’t matter in the bigger picture, the Lions never looking likely to mount a comeback. The club can take immense pride from their cup run, which has seen them knock out three Premier League sides alongside impressive League One form.

Tottenham needed victory

Alli made his trademark back-post run to tap home Eriksen’s centre before substitute Vincent Janssen added a fifth and Son completed his hat-trick, capping an important win for Tottenham. They have made progress over the last three seasons but Chelsea’s irresistible form and a Europa League exit to Gent last month has made this competition more important. Thanks to a professional display, victory keeps open the pathway to a first trophy in the Mauricio Pochettino era.