Colchester vs Tottenham match report: Spurs ease through after stylish Nacer Chadli brace

Respect must go to Tottenham for respecting the FA Cup by selecting an unexpectedly strong team, which in the end proved just as well. At times they made exceptionally hard work of beating Colchester United, who have not won since October in League One, which is why they are bottom of it and sacked their manager in November.

Losing both central defenders after a nasty collision in only the fifth minute handicapped the home side further, yet Tottenham’s profligacy still meant that the deficit was only a goal after an hour. Even at 3-0, Colchester hit the post and deservedly scored before Nacer Chadli, having netted twice, set up Spurs’ fourth.

His team had some careless moments in possession that a stronger side would have taken greater advantage , but 25 years on from the last of their eight FA Cup wins, the sniff of Wembley will be in the nostrils again if Mauricio Pochettino keeps the competition high enough in his list of priorities.

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The question of what would happen if Harry Kane was injured remains. The young Fulham striker Moussa Dembélé is expected to complete a transfer but may be loaned back for the rest of the season, which seems a risk given the challenge of competing on three competitions.

The concerns of Colchester’s Kevin Keen in his first management job could hardly be in greater contrast. The former West Ham midfielder is trying to work on Upton Park principles further up the A12, developing the Colchester academy and bringing through young players. Seven points from safety, avoiding relegation will be tough, even if there were encouraging performances from midfielder George Moncur, son of another West Ham man, John, and Gavin Massey, who caused problems after switching to the left flank in the second half.

Keen’s main concern last night was for the health of centre-back Alex Wynter, who was taken to hospital after crashing into team-mate Tom Eastman early in the game.

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“He was knocked out and I was very worried for him,” Keen said. “But now he’s up and aware of what’s going on.”

Eastman was allowed to come back on at his own insistence, in an unnumbered shirt with his head bandaged, but was substituted a few minutes later. In that period Spurs made the first few of their 15 first-half chances, only one of which was accepted: in the 27th minute, Erik Lamela, who had earlier clipped a post, sent Chadli through to shoot low past the Norwich City loanee Jake Kean.

Harry Kane, now playing against two reserve central defenders, headed against the goalkeeper and soon after half-time Lamela should have converted the England striker’s pass. Colchester had their moments before Chadli hit the bar from a few yards out and Eric Dier’s speculative effort from some 30 yards was deflected to leave Kean stranded.

Chadli stooped to head in a cross by the adventurous Kieran Trippier but there was a memory to sustain the near-capacity home crowd of 9,920 when Massey’s drive against the same post that Marvin Sordell had clipped bounced in off a retreating Ben Davies. Tom Carroll completed the scoring with an assist from Chadli, who has four goals in three games since returning from injury.

“When you create a lot of chances and don’t take them, you invite the opponent to believe,” Pochettino said. Even if the Essex side never quite believed in miracles, they did enough to leave Keen feeling “nothing but pride for the way they’ve represented the club”.

Colchester: (4-2-3-1) Kean; Brindley, Wynter (Kent, 5), Eastman (Briggs, 21), Vincent-Young; Gilbey, Garvan; Massey, Moncur, Ambrose (Sordell, 60); Porter.

Tottenham Hotspur: (4-2-3-1) Vorm; Trippier, Dier, Wimmer, Davies; Bentaleb, Carroll; Lamela (Dembélé, 55), Eriksen (Onomah, 76), Chadli; Kane (Son, 67).

Referee: Michael Oliver.

Man of the match: Chadli (Tottenham)

Match rating: 6/10