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| Dele Alli (left) and Son Heung-min were the Spurs heroes in Wednesday night’s North London derby |
Tottenham Hotspur gained revenge over north London rivals Arsenal as goals by Son Heung-min and Dele Alli earned a 2-0 victory on Wednesday to put them into the League Cup semi-finals.
Seventeen days after losing 4-2 in a pulsating Premier League clash, in-form Tottenham returned to the Emirates to gain their first away victory over Arsenal in eight years.
Son opened the scoring against the run of play with a stylish 24th-minute effort and Alli’s superb second on the hour proved enough for Tottenham to progress to the last four.
Arsenal were left to rue several wasted opportunities with Henrikh Mkhitaryan guilty in the first half, while the hosts also struck the woodwork on a couple of occasions.
Tottenham are looking to win their first silverware under manager Mauricio Pochettino and their first since 2008 when they lifted the League Cup by beating Chelsea in the final.
In Wednesday’s other quarter-final, Eden Hazard came off the bench to fire Chelsea into the last four as his goal secured a narrow 1-0 win against Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge.
The Belgian’s 84th-minute effort took a big deflection to seal victory for the Blues against a Cherries side who had several chances to score but failed to convert them.
Chelsea had buzzed round the Bournemouth goal for much of the game but it was not until substitute Hazard came on with half an hour to go that they looked creative and decisive enough to break through.
Chelsea had piled on the pressure from the start and there were good chances for Olivier Giroud, Ross Barkley, who forced a diving save from Artur Boruc and Willian, who surged forward from the halfway line after 30 minutes only for Boruc to block his rising shot.
Bournemouth looked dangerous on the break and Callum Wilson ran through on goal in the 17th minute but pulled his shot wide.
A scampering run from Jordon Ibe opened up the Chelsea defence 20 minutes later and Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga had to fly to his left to keep out Lys Mousset’s curling shot.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, playing in a forward role, looked certain to break the deadlock early in the second half after rounding two players but his shot flew inches past Boruc’s post.
Chelsea brought on first Pedro then Hazard and it was a combination of the Spaniard and Belgium’s Hazard that made the goal.
It was the first home game since alleged racist taunts against Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling prompted an outcry and Chelsea banned four fans.
Chelsea Chairman Bruce Buck took a page in the programme to condemn racism and the atmosphere in the ground was lively but appeared good humoured with no added security in evidence.
The cup semi-final draw took place straight afterwards, with Tottenham being drawn against Chelsea, while third tier Burton Albion will take on holders Manchester City.
