Battling Man Utd leave fight back too late as they go down 4-3 at Spurs

Manchester United showed plenty of battling spirit but they went down courageously 4-3 against Tottenham.

Dominic Solanke’s brace helped Spurs to a thrilling 4-3 victory over United in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.

Spurs appeared to be cruising when Solanke struck his second goal in the 54th minute, adding to his first-half opener and Dejan Kulusevski’s goal just 46 seconds into the second half.

However, Tottenham’s back-up goalkeeper Fraser Forster made two costly errors, setting up a tense finish.

United substitute Joshua Zirkzee capitalized on a poor pass from Forster to score, and minutes later, Amad Diallo blocked a clearance to make it 3-2 with 20 minutes remaining.

Despite the pressure, Spurs captain Son Heung-min eased nerves by scoring directly from a corner in the 88th minute, though United’s Jonny Evans netted a late consolation in stoppage time.

Solanke’s opening goal in the 15th minute came from a Pedro Porro free-kick rebound.

United, without Marcus Rashford following his declaration of being “ready for a new challenge,” struggled to capitalize on chances, with Christian Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes denied by Tottenham’s makeshift defence.

The second half started disastrously for United, as a defensive error allowed Kulusevski to double Spurs’ lead within a minute.

Solanke then added his second after a sublime Djed Spence pass, cutting inside Lisandro Martinez to fire into the bottom corner.

Manager Ruben Amorim’s triple substitution brought Diallo, Zirkzee, and Kobbie Mainoo onto the pitch, injecting life into United’s attack.

Zirkzee’s header prompted a brilliant save from Forster before he tapped in Fernandes’ assist.

Diallo then blocked Forster’s clearance into the net to set up a nail-biting finale. United pushed hard for an equalizer, with Noussair Mazraoui firing just wide, but it was Son’s corner goal that sealed the win for Spurs, despite protests from United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir.

Tottenham now advance to their first semi-final in three years, leaving Amorim to reflect on United’s third defeat under his management.