FA Cup: Tottenham Fight Hard To Beat Stubborn Middlesbrough 2-1

Tottenham gained a hard-fought victory over Championship side Middlesbrough in their FA Cup third-round replay.

Spurs were gifted a second-minute lead when Boro goalkeeper Tomas Mejias passed the ball to Giovani lo Celso, who cut inside a challenge and scored.

Lamela doubled the hosts’ advantage after 15 minutes when he flicked the ball past Mejias after a fine run.

George Saville pulled one back late on for Boro with a low strike from 20 yards out, but it was not enough.

Middlesbrough substitute Rudy Gestede had a chance to force extra-time but he could only head over the bar from eight yards as Spurs held on for the win.

Tottenham, who have won the FA Cup eight times, will play at Southampton in the fourth round later this month.

The FA Cup represents Tottenham’s best chance of a trophy this season; they are eighth in the Premier League, out of the EFL Cup – after a shock third-round exit on penalties at League Two Colchester – and have a tricky tie against Bundesliga leaders RB Leipzig in the Champions League last 16.

If they were to win the FA Cup, it would be their first trophy since lifting the League Cup in 2008.

Boro boss Jonathan Woodgate scored the winner for Spurs in that Wembley final against Chelsea 12 years ago, as part of a team that also included his assistant boss Robbie Keane.

Woodgate and Keane’s current side, cheered on by 3,700 fans who had travelled down from the north east in the first FA Cup tie at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, made an awful start after a horrible error from Mejias.

The Spanish goalkeeper, who played under Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid in 2011, tried to play a ball to Marvin Johnson, but Lo Celso intercepted the pass inside the penalty area, cut inside a challenge and curled a low effort into the net.

Source: BBC