Tottenham Hotspur vs Portsmouth. The FA Cup Third Round.
Tottenham Hotspur StadiumAttendance60,161.
Match report as Harry Kane nets his third goal of the week as Tottenham see off League One Portsmouth and reach the FA Cup fourth round; Spurs laboured to victory with a much-changed XI but were rarely threatened by the visitors; the fourth-round draw takes place from 4.05pm on Sunday
Saturday 7 January 2023 17:52, UK
Harry Kane sent Tottenham into the FA Cup fourth round with his 265th goal for the club enough to see off League One Portsmouth.
Kane moved one behind Spurs' all-time top scorer Jimmy Greaves after bending a wonderful effort into the corner from the edge of the box at the start of the second half.
Tottenham struggled throughout to break down the managerless visitors, who had sacked boss Danny Cowley on Monday following nine winless league games, with a much-changed team from their 4-0 victory at Crystal Palace.
Both Kane and Heung-Min Son kept their places though as Spurs laboured to their 1-0 win, capping a positive week for Antonio Conte ahead of the north London derby with Arsenal next Sunday, live on Sky Sports.
Tottenham failed to have a shot on target in the first half with Portsmouth going closest to taking a stunning lead. Reeco Hackett-Fairchild adjusted his body in the box to swivel and sweep an overhead kick at goal which had to be pushed away by Fraser Forster.
Kane nearly turned the ball home from a corner, while Son whipped an effort narrowly wide, but Spurs were thoroughly frustrated by the resilient visitors, roared on by almost 9,000 supporters.
They were still not silenced despite Kane breaking the deadlock five minutes after the break amid a fast Tottenham start which saw Emerson Royal's headed effort come back off a post. Kane exchanged passes with Ryan Sessegnon on the edge of the box before bending a perfect effort into the corner for his third goal of the week.
Tottenham dominated the second period, seeing Son blast over before Oliver Skipp fired off-target from the centre of the box with a clear view of goal, but it mattered little as Spurs went through.
Tottenham's assistant coach Cristian Stellini to the BBC: "I think we have to compliment Portsmouth because they played a good game and made it a tough game for us. It was not easy to find a way to score.
"We had the possession and had the game under control so we are happy. Maybe we could have scored earlier but we couldn't find a goal. After we scored the game was different and it was much better for us.
"We had to stretch them to find a way to score [after half-time]. We tried to move players, get Oliver Skipp into the box, drop Harry Kane [into space] to find a solution and we found it immediately.
"We have to take care of him because he's our best player and he's the captain of England. We have tough games in front of us and Harry is important for us."
Portsmouth interim manager Simon Bassey to the BBC: "I'm really pleased with them, we limited a top side and made a world-class player score a world-class goal.
"Our shape was good, we had good energy and offered a threat early in the game. We tired, which is understandable, but I'm really pleased with the players.
"Tottenham took the game away from Palace in 23 minutes the other night, they can do that to you. But our players limited them to very little. When Harry Kane has to pull that out of the bag, it says something.
"We probably lacked a bit of quality in our final delivery, we nearly got in behind twice, but we were just on the wrong side of those little moments today."
Tottenham's next game is a huge north London derby at home to Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday January 15, live on Sky Sports - kick-off 4.30pm.
Antonio Conte's side then face another crucial league game on Thursday January 19, when they travel to Manchester City, live on Sky Sports - kick-off 8pm.
Portsmouth's next outing is at Bolton in the Papa Johns Trophy quarter-finals on Tuesday - kick-off 7.45pm.
Pompey then face Bolton away again on Saturday, this time in League One - kick-off 3pm.
