Tottenham power their way past Newcastle and into the semi-finals

This time it was Newcastle United who switched off. A mere 34 seconds were on the clock at the beginning of the second half when Nacer Chadli was allowed to drift unchallenged from left to right before drilling a low shot past the hapless Jak Alnwick.

Newcastle had won the league fixture 2-1 at this stadium in October on the back of Sammy Ameobi’s goal just seven seconds into the second half. Tottenham enjoyed their revenge here, and then some.

They took the lead in the first half after Alnwick, the third-choice Newcastle goalkeeper, fumbled to present Nabil Bentaleb with the first goal of his professional career. Mauricio Pochettino’s team added the gloss to one of the most positive performances of his White Hart Lane tenure with Harry Kane’s 13th goal of the season and a close-range finish from the substitute, Roberto Soldado.

The final blow for a Newcastle team that had also conceded four times in defeat at Arsenal on Saturday followed Alnwick’s parry from Christian Eriksen’s shot, which sent the ball into the middle of his area. Alnwick was the hero when he came on for his debut at half-time in the recent win over Chelsea but he is finding that the margins at this level are unforgiving.

Alnwick also hurt a shoulder towards the end of this Capital One Cup quarter-final and with Tim Krul and Rob Elliot already out, Alan Pardew said that he would lobby the Premier League for an emergency loan for the derby against Sunderland at St James’ Park on Sunday.

The manager’s only other option is the 17-year-old Freddie Woodman, with the situation complicated by the club’s decision to loan Karl Darlow back to Nottingham Forest for the season with no recall clause. “There’s no way that a 17-year-old should be allowed to go in goal at this level,” Pardew said. He added that Alnwick’s shoulder injury might not be that bad.

This was the first time that Newcastle had been in the fifth round of a cup competition during the owner Mike Ashley’s seven-and-a-half year stewardship and even though Pardew could point to chances missed, they departed badly beaten.

For Tottenham, though, there was much to cheer and the night was rounded off when they drew the League One club Sheffield United in the semi-finals. Pochettino had talked beforehand of his determination to add to the two Copa Del Rey successes that he enjoyed as a player at Espanyol. He and Tottenham have the scent of silverware.

This stage of a domestic knockout tournament had seemed like nose-bleed territory for Newcastle and Alnwick’s early error had a disorienting effect. He will cringe whenever he thinks about the moment that he jumped unchallenged to collect Eriksen’s corner only to allow the ball to squirm from his grasp. Bentaleb was the grateful beneficiary from close range.

Pochettino had made six changes to the team that won at Swansea City on Sunday but he made his intent clear by retaining a strong spine, with Eriksen moved inside to play behind Kane, and Jan Vertonghen continuing alongside Federico Fazio in central defence. Bentaleb is also a first-choice selection these days. Eriksen was the stand-out performer.

There was an ebb and flow to the tie, with Moussa Sissoko in barrelling form. He worried Tottenham with his direct running and twice in the first half he worked Michel Vorm. Sissoko felt his right knee after a challenge in the second half but Pardew reported that he should be fit for Sunderland.

Kane blasted a 36th-minute shot just wide and he outstripped Fabricio Coloccini in the box before half-time and went down. A penalty award, though, would have been harsh. Tottenham could also point to the ninth-minute move that led to Chadli being played in on the right-side of the area. He drew a low save from Alnwick. Chadli made no mistake after the interval. Mike Williamson failed to get close to him and the right-footed shot deflected slightly to find the bottom corner.

Pardew’s starting XI had been as strong as it could have been given the fitness problems that he had cited for Cheick Tioté, Papiss Cissé, Steven Taylor and Ameobi, together with the suspension for Daryl Janmaat.

But there was the sense that his team were vulnerable at the back and that they lacked what was required up front. Rémy Cabella was guilty of a glaring miss on 55 minutes, although Ayoze Pérez’s cross was driven at pace and Adam Armstrong could not finish towards the end.

Tottenham turned the screw. After Vertonghen had seen a header cleared off the line by Massadio Haïdara, Kane took two touches from Andros Townsend’s pass before scoring while Soldado also got in on the act. Tottenham can dream of Wembley.