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FA Cup: Krul stars in shoot-out as Norwich knock out Tottenham

Tottenham are out of the FA Cup thanks to a 3-2 penalty shoot-out defeat to Norwich City after the two played out a 1-1 after extra-time.

By Ryan Benson
Norwich

London, March 5: Norwich City are into the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1991-92 thanks to a dramatic 3-2 win on penalties at Tottenham after a 1-1 draw, Tim Krul the star of the show in the shoot-out.

Daniel Farke's Canaries missed their first penalty, but Krul's heroics – coupled with some poor efforts by Spurs – allowed Norwich to secure their passage to the last eight despite also having to come from behind in regulation time.

Giovani Lo Celso was the chief instigator for Spurs in the first half and set up Jan Vertonghen to score just 13 minutes in, but the visitors responded well and were well worth a leveller when Josip Drmic pounced on a Michel Vorm mistake in the 78th minute.

Norwich survived extra-time but looked to be in trouble when they missed their first penalty following Eric Dier's opener, yet Troy Parrott and Gedson Fernandes both had efforts saved by Krul, securing the Canaries a famous win.

The match was followed by high drama as Dier waded into the stands to apparently confront a supporter, with Spurs boss Jose Mourinho saying the England international was responding to an incident involving the player's brother.

Lo Celso took the game to Norwich early on and was unsurprisingly the inspiration as Spurs took the lead, his free-kick delivery from the left nodded in at the back post by Vertonghen.

Norwich created a couple of opportunities of their own late in the first half – the lively Emi Buendia stinging the palms of Michel Vorm after a brilliant solo run, before the goalkeeper reacted just in time to keep out Lukas Rupp's long-range effort after he had made a meal of his initial save.

Norwich were the brighter of the two teams in the second half, with Buendia and Rupp both going close again, before Mario Vrancic's free-kick skimmed the roof of the net.

A deserved equaliser arrived in the 78th minute – Drmic capitalising as Vorm failed to hold Kenny McLean's drive, forcing extra-time after Ben Godfrey crucially blocked Serge Aurier's goal-bound effort.

Despite fading, Norwich made it through a fairly uneventful extra 30 minutes and Krul made the difference in the shoot-out, saving from Parrott and Fernandes after Erik Lamela had hit the crossbar, with Adam Idah, Marco Stiepermann and Todd Cantwell converting on a famous night for City.

What does it mean? Spirited Norwich leave Mourinho facing more questions

It is fair to say there have been few positives at Spurs since Mourinho's arrival. Performances have generally underwhelmed, and now they are out of the competition that surely represented their only realistic chance of silverware this season. There seems to be precious little attacking co-ordination in the team, and when not bailed out by individual quality, there is not much going for them. By contrast, Norwich – who are bottom of the Premier League – went forward with much greater collective understanding, therefore making them the bigger threat for much of the game.

Buendia's good day

Norwich had their fair share of chances and many of them involved their attacking midfielder, as he played two key passes and had four shots. Spurs struggled to deal with his dribbling and incisiveness, but unfortunately for Norwich he could not quite find a way through.

Vorm is temporary

This performance showed just why Vorm has become third choice at Spurs. Aside from his solitary save in the shoot-out, the Dutchman was unconvincing, escaping one first-half mess before gifting Norwich an equaliser towards the end of the regulation 90 minutes.

What's next?

Spurs head north to Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday (March 7), while Norwich go to Sheffield United the same day.

Story first published: Thursday, March 5, 2020, 7:50 [IST]
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