Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United shared seven goals between them in their Carabao Cup quarter-final tie on Thursday night, with goalkeeper errors ultimately defining the contest.

Dominic Solanke scored a Spurs brace either side of one from Dejan Kulusevski, which looked like it would be enough to send the home side comfortably through. But Fraser Forster gifted two United goals to Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo, before opposite number Altay Bayindir was at fault for the Spurs fourth scored by Son Heung-min late on.

Jonny Evans got the United third deep into stoppage time, ultimately consolation.

How the game unfolded

Neither team really did very much at all in the opening stages, with attacks at both ends breaking down when it came to executing the final pass or movement.

So when Spurs went ahead after 15 minutes it was the first real chance of the game. The goal for Solanke started with a free-kick for the hosts, which was played wide to Son and cut back to Pedro Porro outside the box. His drive shot was only parried by Bayindir in the United goal, with Solanke on hand to gobble up the rebound from close-range.

Bayindir was called into action again midway through the first half, dealing with a challenging shot from Kulusevski at the near post after the Spurs man had rolled his marker. The Swedish winger continued to cause problems and a threatening pass across the six-yard box was almost turned into his own net by Manuel Ugarte as he attempted to cut it out.

By half-time, United had failed to test Forster in the Spurs goal, sending a number of speculative efforts off target or being frustrated by blocks.

Spurs consolidated their advantage less than a minute after the restart. The hosts worked the ball wide to James Maddison, whose low cross was cut out by Lisandro Martinez. But the clearance was a very tame one, straight to Kulusevski just a few yards away and a too much of a gift to refuse.

The third, less than ten minutes later, was easy for Spurs. Solanke beat the offside trap, cutting inside without much resistance and fired low into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

Forster’s first meaningful action of the night came after an hour, making an excellent save to his left to deny Zirkzee, who arched his back to generate power in a header that bounced up off the turf. But the goalkeeper went from hero to villain almost instantly, inexplicably passing the ball straight to Bruno Fernandes inside his own area. The square ball to Zirkzee meant the Dutchman couldn’t miss.

The veteran stopper soon wanted the ground to swallow him up as Amad reduced the deficit further. He dwelled too long with the ball at his feet, inviting pressure from the United winger, who managed to block the attempted clearance and divert it straight into the net.

With the momentum fully with Ruben Amorim’s side, Noussair Mazraoui was close to equalising when he was played in and chopped back, missing wide of the far post. Forster soon looked bewildered as Amad struck from distance, bizarrely hacking the ball away with a swing of his right boot.

Ultimately, Spurs were able to restore breathing room when Son managed to exploit something that has been a United weakness in recent weeks: defending a corner. The in-swinging delivery from the home skipper was high and towards the far post, evading everyone before it rippled the net. Bayindir was incensed that it was allowed to stand, claiming he was impeded by Lucas Bergvall after contact between the pair as he jumped. “He pushed my hand,” the goalkeeper could be seen saying, as he watched in disbelief the replay on the stadium’s big screen.

Somehow, there was still more, Evans halving the deficit again from a 94th minute corner. But it was too late to level things up and Spurs managed to hold on.

Check out how both sets of players performed in this one.

Mistakes and bad defending is what actually makes entertaining football

As Spurs went 1-0 up, and then 2-0 up, those in red couldn’t help but feel the goals were avoidable.

The first didn’t paint stand-in goalkeeper Altay Bayindir or the defenders in front of him in a brilliant light. The Turkey international ought to have done better parrying Pedro Porro’s shot, which did slightly swerve, away from danger instead of out in front him. Teammates didn’t help by not anticipating and standing on their heels, compared to Dominic Solanke being alive to the second ball.

The second was poor from Lisandro Martinez. The centre-back was in the right place at the right time to avert the danger from James Maddison’s low cross. But he weakly dangled a leg at the ball and it went straight to the feet of Kulusevski, who gratefully smashed in a first-time finish.

Martinez was culpable for the third too, sitting deeper than the rest of his defensive line, then beaten too easily when Solanke cut inside, and throwing his hand up in the air as the ball hit the net like he was expecting an offside flag all along.

That should have been game over, but Fraser Forster then had an absolute nightmare. He was directly at fault for each of the first two United goals scored by Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo. The latter, which saw him closed down a few yards from his own goal, even prompted Gary Neville to say during Sky Sports’ commentary: “This is one of the most Tottenham things you’ll see”.

Bayindir then felt he was fouled as he flapped at Son Heug-min’s late corner, which flew directly in and actually proved decisive. But it was a weak effort on his part.

The positioning of Bruno Fernandes caused Spurs all manner of issues in the first half. The United captain was operating as an inside left forward, which meant opposing right-back Pedro Porro wasn’t sure who he was supposed to be marking: Fernandes or left-wing-back Diogo Dalot.

The result was Fernandes, who wasn’t being picked up by anyone else, getting into dangerous positions time after time. In the second half, United’s shape changed with the substitutions and it ended up being Tottenham errors in possession that produced the goals.

Dominic Solanke has now scored five times across his last four appearances against Manchester United. It started last season when the former Chelsea and Liverpool striker netted home and away for Bournemouth, carrying on after a £65m summer transfer to Spurs.

Solanke netted in the Premier League win for Tottenham at Old Trafford earlier this season.

He took both goals really well. The first was a controlled finish that deceived Bayindir with his eyes and body shape, knocking the ball in off the near post when it appeared he would aim for the opposite corner. The second was similarly good, finding the bottom corner from 18 yards.

Having done his job at one end, he probably couldn’t believe what he was seeing at the other.

It’s been a rollercoaster few days for Marcus Rashford. Amid ongoing doubts about his future at Old Trafford, he wasn’t selected for the Manchester derby on Sunday, before being sent home from training due to illness the following day and then going on record to state his readiness for a “new challenge”.

The United forward was again missing from the matchday squad Amorim named for this game, having not been seen when the rest of the group travelled on Wednesday. But the head coach revealed prior to kick-off that his absence was still a “selection” choice, rather than anything else.

Ange Postecoglou has been under scrutiny ever since he uttered that he always wins a trophy in his second season with a club. It’s a statement of fact because that is what has happened throughout his coaching career to date, but given how this season has gone, many expected it to come to an end.

Spurs won’t be favourites to lift the Carabao Cup as they seek a first trophy since 2008 – that label goes to Liverpool and Arsenal. But at least being in the mix gives them a chance.

Let’s wait and see what happens.

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