While Owen Coyle’s Burnley team this evening visited White Hart Lane in the semi-final of the Carling cup having already taken out Fulham, Chelsea and Arsenal in previous rounds they finally met their match against a Tottenham team that only came out for the second half. Burnley took a surprise, yet fully deserved lead, in the first half although they will rue a number of missed opportunities in the first 45 minutes.
After a couple of substitutions, Harry Redknapp's Tottenham team were rejuvenated in the second half and four goals in the space of 22 minutes should be enough cover in the second leg at Burnley. While the Tottenham team very much came to the fore in the second half there were a number of errors and an own goal which contributed to the downfall of a brave Burnley team. While on paper they are still in the tie, they would need to win by at least three clear goals to move through to the final.
It will be interesting to see the team that Harry Redknapp fields for the second leg as he may opt to rest a few of his star players although as we have seen on numerous occasions this kind of plan can backfire.
