MOURINHO'S BACKUP SPURS STRIKE LATE TO SEND CHELSEA OUT OF CARABAO CUP ON PENALTIES

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José Mourinho’s Tottenham struck a surprise victory over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, just days after Mourinho had said he was going to have to sacrifice the tournament.

Timo Werner bagged his first Chelsea goal in a first half where the Blues were totally dominant, before Erik Lamela equalised late-on to take the game to penalties.

The first nine penalty takers all put theirs away before Mason Mount struck the post with his effort and the ball bounced wide, handing Spurs a 5-4 win in the shootout. 

On Monday, José Mourinho outlined his priorities for the coming week: “I would like to fight for the Carabao Cup, but I don’t think I can.

“We have a game on Thursday that gives us not as much money as the Champions League, but the group phase of the Europa League gives us a certain amount that, for a club like us, is very important.”

The Tottenham manager sent out a heavily rotated line-up to face Chelsea, with Harry Kane, Matt Doherty and Davinson Sánchez resigned to the bench. Left-back Sergio Reguilon, having recently arrived from Real Madrid, made his debut, and provided the assist for the equaliser. 

Spurs are in the midst of a mind-bendingly hectic week of games, playing four in eight days. After the draw with Newcastle in the Premier League on Sunday and their cup exploits on Tuesday, they now look forward to a Europa League qualifier against Maccabi Haifa on Thursday, and a meeting with Manchester United on Sunday. 

One moment of the game that left viewers puzzled was the image of Eric Dier hurrying off the pitch to the tunnel, with Mourinho on his tail. It later emerged that he desperately needed to go to the toilet. 

After the game, Dier said: "I am OK but that was a first for me. There was nothing I could do about it and when you've got to go, you've got to go. Some things you can't stop.”

Dier then went on to convert the first penalty for Spurs, making up for his missed spot-kick in a shootout against Chelsea in the semi-finals of the 2019 Carabao Cup.