Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Burnley – Pedro Porro scores stunner as Spurs defeat visitors to progress in FA Cup

A screamer from Pedro Porro decided a tightly-fought FA Cup third-round clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Burnley, which showcased plenty of attacking intent but only one real moment of quality in front of goal.

Porro fired a thunderbolt past the impressive Arijanet Muric with just 12 minutes left in a fixture that looked destined for a replay after both sides flattered to deceive at times, but when Porro struck a perfect shot from outside the box he was already celebrating before it hit the net.

Vincent Kompany named a rotated team but his side had chances to either steal a win or take it to a replay. Zeki Amdouni missed two gilt-edged chances from close range, including one with the last kick of the game after Muric had flicked on a late corner.

But Tottenham survived and were further buoyed by the return of Ryan Sessegnon from the bench, while Mickey van de Ven was an unused substitute.

Eric Dier was absent from the matchday squad despite injuries forcing Postecoglou to deploy full-backs Ben Davies and Emerson Royal in central defence, as reports link him with a move to Bayern Munich to join up with former team-mate Harry Kane.

While Burnley will surely feel disappointed to be knocked out having gone toe-to-toe with Tottenham for the whole 90 minutes, with Kompany enjoying fond memories of the FA Cup as a player, they’ll at least take solace in avoiding the dreaded replay.

That means Burnley have just two more games in January as Kompany sets his sights on Premier League survival with the Clarets sat five points away from Everton and safety – for now at least.

Tottenham are one of the hardest-hit teams by the Asian Cup and African Cup of Nations with Son Heung-min, Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma all further absentees from an already injury-hit squad.

And they could’ve done with the South Korean here, as the home front-three huffed and puffed in front of goal before getting bailed out by their magic full-back.

Richarlison missed a host of chances and just looked out of touch when receiving the ball in the danger areas, while Dejan Kulusevski also lacked a killer touch in the final third.

However, the lively Brennan Johnson was a constant thorn in Burnley’s side while youngster Dane Scarlett also troubled the defence when he came on, and almost set up Sessegnon to cap a perfect return.

This game lacked quality in the penalty area from both sides, so maybe it was fitting that the decisive moment came from about 30 yards out via an unstoppable shot that had Muric rooted to the spot.

It’s a goal that can words can only play at doing justice to, but one that will never got old no matter how many replays of it are show.

Tottenham: Vicario 7, Porro 8, Royal 6, Davies 7, Udogie 7, Skipp 6, Bentancur 6, Kulusevski 6, Lo Celso 6, Johnson 7, Richarlison 5. Subs: Gil 6, Hojberg 6, Sessegnon 6, Scarlett 7, Donley 6.

Burnley: Muric 6, Vitinho 6, O’Shea 7, Delcroix 7, Taylor 6, Zaroury 7, Ramsey 5, Cullen 7, Odobert 6, Foster 5, Amdouni 5. Subs: Bruun Larsen 6, Brownhill 7, Al-Hakhil 6, Redmond 6, Tresor 7.

9’ – GOT TO SCORE! Richarlison doesn’t usually miss those. He’s hit five goals in his last five games and looked set to add to that peeling off the back of the Burnley line to set up a one-on-one. but he pulled his left-footed shot well side, and Johnson’s long-range effort on the next attack is punched well clear by Muric.

27’ – HOW DID HE MISS? Remember those chances Burnley are creating? Zeki Amdouni had a golden opportunity to fire his side ahead, timing his run perfectly to get on the end of an aerial ball in plenty of space in the box but just couldn’t get it out of his feet before shovelling his shot over the bar from about eight yards out. That’s a stinker.

78’ – GOAL! TOTTENHAM 1-0 BURNLEY (PORRO): Who wants it? HE WANTS IT!!! What a superb goal by Pedro Porro. Richarlison had just butchered an opportunity at close-range but Porro pounced on the ball as Burnley attemped to counter-attack. He took one look at goal then lifted a thunderbolt from well outside the area that flew past a motionless Muric and into the net. It’s a goal worthy of victory.

85’ – SESSEGNON ALMSOT SCORES! Dane Scarlett’s immediately brought something off the bench, as Spurs are running Burnley ragged. But Ryan Sessegnon can’t make it a dream return as Scarlett lays off the ball in the area, his shot slides just past Muric’s left-hand post.

90+6’ – SO SO CLOSE! Burnley have a corner, but it could’ve been so much more. Tresor got on the end of a long ball forward and his square pass found Lecroix up from centre-back – but he couldn’t convert. This corner will be the last chance though…

90+7’ – THAT WAS THE CHANCE! What a finish that would’ve been! Muric jumped highest for a flick-on that fell to Zeki Amdouni – the only starting Burnley attacker still on the pitch. He met it just six yards out but curled his first-time shot over, Vicario could’ve done nothing to stop that if it was on target.

• Burnley’s last victory on the road against Tottenham was in 1983.
• That’s Pedro Porro’s first goal of the 2023/24 season.