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- Tottenham 3-0 Doncaster Rovers: Frank passes first EFL Cup test with new side
Tottenham 3-0 Doncaster Rovers: Frank passes first EFL Cup test with new side
Thomas Frank passed his first test in the EFL Cup with Tottenham, who saw off Doncaster Rovers with ease.
Tottenham booked their place in the EFL Cup's last 16 after a routine 3-0 home victory over Doncaster Rovers on Wednesday.
Thomas Frank rotated for the visit of Grant McCann's League One side, though Spurs' depth of talent soon showed as they surged out of sight in the opening 20 minutes.
Joao Palhinha opened the scoring with an inventive 14th-minute overhead kick after goalkeeper Ian Lawlor parried Xavi Simons' corner towards him near the penalty spot.
That one-goal advantage was doubled three minutes later when Wilson Odobert eased past Tom Nixon before his wicked cross deflected off the helpless Jay McGrath and past Lawlor for an own goal.
Doncaster captain Owen Bailey almost pulled one back before the interval, though backup goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky produced an expert stop to tip a smart volley onto his right-hand post.
Bailey tested Kinsky again in an encouraging start from Doncaster in the second half, while Glenn Middleton curled a delightful free-kick narrowly wide.
A late tap-in from Lucas Bergvall was then ruled out for offside, but Spurs would not be denied a third goal as the midfielder teed up Brennan Johnson to seal the win with a cute dink over Lawlor.
Data Debrief: Lower-tier shock avoided by Spurs
Tottenham have now progressed from 18 of their last 19 EFL Cup ties against sides from a lower division, the only exception coming in 2019-20, when they were beaten on penalties by Colchester United.
The result was to be expected, though, given Doncaster have faced top-flight opposition in 17 matches in the competition, losing 14 of them (W1 D2).
Frank's side were far from dominant in terms of attacking output, however, accumulating 1.62 expected goals to Doncaster's 0.73.