Tottenham have made their second leg visit to Turf Moor all but a reluctant, programme-congesting formality, after their decisive win at White Hart Lane on January 6 against Burnley. The defending champions will be looking forward to finding out who will be the other finalist, which will be determined in the heavyweight clash between United and Arsenal. Unless the Clarets do the unthinkable and dish out a surprise, to the delight of their fans and all the neutrals.

Spurs had a stunning second-half display which dismantled Burnley, after the cocky visitors in the form of Martin Paterson shocked White Hart Lane with an early strike. Tottenham certainly took their time to regroup. It was Michael Dawson who headed Spurs level two minutes after the break and substitute Jamie O'Hara volleyed in a second five minutes later as Burnley crumbled, and the battery of the second half had began after 47 minutes of brave Burnley display.

Two more goals from Roman Pavlyuchenko, who had a clinical finish, followed by the unfortunate Michael Duff own goal, wrapped up the scoreline at 4-1, which means in the second leg, Burnley will have a mountain to climb, they will need three clean goals, or should Spurs score an away goal, Burnley will have to bury in five.

White Hart Lane had a carnival vibe before the match, when a bucket of cold water was poured over the ground to dampen their enthusiasm, to the delight of the away fans and every neutral fan watching the match. However, Owen Coyle's side ran out of steam after Dawson equalised so early in the second half, and henceforth, matters took an ugly turn for the Clarets.

Harry Redknapp is intelligent and experienced enough not to dismiss the second leg at Turf Moor as a formality, and rightly so. Even before the match started, the Clarets had nothing to lose and they fought for the pride, and that is precisely what will happen in the second leg, with Turf Moor no doubt going to be sold out, packed to the rafters with a boiling atmosphere.

Tottenham were lucky not to concede a second away goal in the 66th minute when Paterson forced Gomes into a brilliant save and Blake planted the spilled ball into the six-yard box, where only a desperate last gasp header cleared the danger, what a great escape for Spurs, and you could almost hear the tune being whistled around the terraces.

And to punish the Clarets for their arrogance to miss on a brilliant chance like that, Spurs took the full advantage with Pavlyuchenko collecting the ball from over 20 yards, steered outside Clarke Carlisle and sent the ball in the bottom corner with the smartest, most elegant finish.

The straw on the night for the Clarets was when Duff unfortunately headed O'Hara's cross past Jensen minutes later, making it a night to forget for Coyle's side.


Burnley: Jensen, Alexander, Duff, Carlisle, Jordan, Elliott, McCann, Gudjonsson (McDonald 31), Eagles, Blake (Rodriguez 74), Paterson (Akinbiyi 86).
Subs: Penny, Kalvenes, Mahon, A MacDonald

Booked: Duff 84

Spurs: Gomes, Bale, Zokora, Bentley (O'Hara, 46), Lennon, Pavlyuchenko, Modric, Campbell, Corluka, Dawson, Woodgate.
Subs: Gunter, Dos Santos, Taarabt, Boetang, Alnwick, Rocha

Ref: M Atkinson