Spurs players were left relieved after an own goal finally gave them the lead at plucky Tamworth. -AP
Tottenham have endured the humiliation of being taken to extra time by Tamworth, opponents nearly 100 places lower in English soccer's pyramid, before winning 3-0 and avoiding one of the biggest shocks in FA Cup history.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Four days after beating Premier League leaders Liverpool 1-0 in the League Cup semi-finals, Ange Postecoglou's team of established internationals were brought down to earth on Sunday against a group of part-timers whose main jobs included bricklaying, selling zippers and being a financial advisor.
A massive surprise was on when fifth-tier National League side Tamworth, 96 places below Spurs in the pyramid, twice came perilously close in the final minute of normal time to earning a last-gasp winner.
Tamworth's Thomas McLinchey and Spurs' Archie Gray battling for the ball at The Lamb Ground. (AP PHOTO)
They forced extra time with the score 0-0, only to then concede an own-goal in the 101st minute.
With the dam broken, strikes from Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson then burst the bubble of excitement amid the 3,700 fans inside the tiny stadium called The Lamb.
Postecoglou had felt compelled to bring on his top players including Son Heung-min, Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke from the substitutes' bench to eventually overpower Tamworth, who are 16th in the National League and were playing in the third round for first time since 2012.
In previous years, Tamworth would have earned a money-spinning replay by holding Tottenham to a draw in regulation time, but replays have been scrapped from this season because of the increasingly busy calendar.
