Pressure finally pays off with late goals at Wycombe - report and debrief

A late flurry of goals finally settled our FA Cup fourth round tie against Wycombe Wanderers as we hit three in the closing stages to overcome a dogged display from our Championship opponents on Monday night.

Despite sitting bottom of their table with just three wins in the league all season, the home side took a first-half lead through Fred Onyedinma and we had to dig deep to level the scores before the interval through Gareth Bale.

A dominant second-half showing didn’t provide us with the goals we were looking for until the floodgates opened with a fine Harry Winks effort four minutes from time, with substitute Tanguy Ndombele netting a quick-fire brace to settle the outcome.

It was an open first half with early chances for both sides, Wycombe snatching the lead in the 25th minute when Uche Ikpeazu’s cross flicked off Davinson Sanchez into the path of Onyedinma, who side-footed past Joe Hart from eight yards.

We hit the woodwork twice in response though Moussa Sissoko and Japhet Tanganga before deservedly levelling the contest two minutes into stoppage time at the end of the first half when Bale latched onto Lucas Moura’s tidy pass and guided the ball home from close range.

The second half was a very different affair though as we completely dominated, pinning Wycombe back inside their own half and creating plenty of clear-cut chances. The introduction off the bench of the likes of Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son and Ndombele only served to bolster our possession stats, but we had to wait until the 86th minute before we finally broke through – and it was a beauty as Winks curled home a 20-yard, left-footed effort past Ryan Allsop following a bit of a scramble inside the area. And within 60 seconds, we wrapped up the tie when Ndombele’s first-time shot from Son’s pass found the back of the net.

We still hadn’t finished though, adding a fourth deep into stoppage time as our French midfielder scored his second of the game with another well-taken effort to give the scoreline a look which hadn’t seemed very likely at one stage, but was still thoroughly deserved based on the chances we created.

Next up is a fifth round clash with Everton at Goodison Park, date to be confirmed.

Perseverance pays off

Despite falling behind to Wycombe – as we did when we met them at this stage of the competition four years ago – we never panicked and quickly took control of the contest before the goals arrived. Last time out, we trailed 2-0 and 3-2 before turning it around in the closing minutes, and on this occasion it was late goals again which saw us through but this time they came following a dominant second half.

We probably should have been ahead by half-time as chances came and went, although we did need Joe Hart to be alert to keep out Admiral Muskwe’s glancing header in the seventh minute. After Onyedinma’s opener, Bale headed wide and flashed an effort into the side-netting before the woodwork denied Sissoko and Tanganga. Bale’s equaliser came right on the stroke of half-time, Lucas spotting his run in behind the Wycombe defence before picking him out with a lovely pass which the Welshman steered past Allsop from close range.

There were so many opportunities after the break. Erik Lamela scuffed an effort which was easy for Allsop, moments before Lucas twisted and turned to work a yard of space on the edge of the area only to fire just wide of the far post and then Bale broke into the area but his low cross went right across the face of goal.

With 20 minutes left, a fantastic drilled pass from Ben Davies was superbly controlled with his first touch by Kane but Allsop was quick off his line to prevent him from poking the ball home, Son flashed an angled shot just wide and then skied over the bar from a great position having been found by Sissoko’s cut-back.

Eventually though, our pressure told and Winks capped an excellent performance with a lovely goal. Allsop had saved Kane’s close-range effort before Kane sent the rebound across goal with McCarthy clearing his lines, but the ball fell to Winks who steadied himself before curling home.

The hosts hadn’t played since their third round victory against Preston North End on 9 January due to positive COVID-19 tests in their camp and, while they looked tired in the closing minutes, we took full advantage. Ndombele’s first to make it 3-1 was a nonchalant side-footed effort from 10 yards out after being well found by Son and his second was even better, receiving Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s pass in the area, chopping back to deceive two defenders and firing right-footed past Allsop at his near post.

Overall, we enjoyed 73 per cent possession with 28 shots at goal, 10 on target.

As for the team news, Jose Mourinho made 10 changes to the team that started at Sheffield United last time out, Davies the sole survivor from Bramall Lane, and he captained the team. Carlos Vinicius, who scored a hat-trick in the third round at Marine, started up front again in the FA Cup, and Bale was also back in the starting line-up. Lamela, meanwhile, marked his first start since 1 November.

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'Positive attitude from the players'

Jose said afterwards: "I told the players at half-time, even at 1-1 and possibly 1-0 down if Bale doesn’t score that goal, I told the players that I couldn’t be critical of them, not of their attitude, not of the way they were playing, we were fine, from minute one, the team was really fine. In the first 10 minutes we had chances, corners, hit the post. The performance was serious, like we did at Marine, but this is a completely different level, much higher, but the same positive attitude from the players."

Match data

Goals: Wycombe – Onyedinma 25; Spurs – Bale 45+2, Winks 86, Ndombele 87, 90+3.

Referee: Jonathan Moss.

Venue: Adams Park, High Wycombe.

Weather: Clear sky, gentle breeze, one degree.