Tottenham eased into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 4-0 victory over Peterborough at White Hart Lane.
Kranjcar brace, Defoe & Keane see off Peterborough
Tottenham eased into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 4-0 victory over Peterborough at White Hart Lane.
Two goals from Niko Kranjcar, one from top scorer Jermain Defoe and a penalty from Robbie Keane sent Spurs into the hat for Sunday's fourth round draw.
Kranjcar broke the deadlock on 35 minutes with a spectacular effort past Joe Lewis and he doubled the lead before the hour mark when he converted Gareth Bale's cross.
Bale provided Tottenham's third when he crossed for Defoe to fire past Lewis and Keane added a fourth from the penalty spot in the closing seconds.
Tottenham were all over their opponents from the first whistle. Defoe might have put them two up in the first 10 minutes, just failing to connect from close range and then somehow managing to volley over from little more than a yard after Luka Modric's shot had ballooned off a defender.
One-way traffic
That first half was little more than one-way traffic, Tottenham out-passing and out-thinking their opponents.
If it had not been for Peterborough goalkeeper Joe Lewis then the match would have been over well before the interval.
He got down smartly to smother a Tom Huddlestone free-kick but the pick of a bunch of saves was an instinctive fingertip effort which saw him deflect a ferocious Kranjcar right-footer onto the crossbar.
The breakthrough, however, had to come and when it did it owed everything to the inventive Croatian midfield connection.
Modric is easing his way back after recovering from his broken leg earlier this season and his quality could be crucial in Tottenham's bid to break into the Premier League top four.
It was his tidy work and precision pass which found Kranjcar out on the left. Kranjcar, a £2.5million bargain from Portsmouth in the summer, simply smashed a right-footed shot past Lewis.
It meant Peterborough had to come out and play - a dangerous ploy for any side at White Hart Lane these days.
Exploited
And Tottenham exploited the extra space after 56 minutes when the lively Keane found Bale, whose cross from the left was prodded home from close range by Kranjcar.
Not that Peterborough folded. Indeed, they would have reduced the arrears after 65 minutes but for a spectacular flying save by goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, who tipped a savage shot from striker Craig Mackail-Smith over the crossbar.
After 69 minutes, however, Spurs increased their lead. Again it was set up by Bale, but this time it was Defoe who got on the end of his cross to fire the third.
It prompted something of an unusual occurrence at White Hart Lane these days - a sighting of Russia striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, who has spent most of the season on the substitutes' bench but who came on to replace Defoe.
He might have scored, too, but had the ball stabbed off his toe at the crucial moment. The Spurs rout was completed in stoppage time when Keane slotted home a penalty after substitute Danny Rose had been brought down by Chris Whelpdale.
| Tottenham Hotspur |
Team Name |
Peterborough United |
| 62% |
Possession |
38% |
| 4 |
Goals |
0 |
| 12 |
Shots On Target |
2 |
| 10 |
Shots Off Target |
4 |
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 14 |
Corners |
4 |
| 4 |
Fouls Conceded |
14 |
| 5 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
|
