Cup shame as Millwall revisit the ugly game

Tottenham 6 Millwall 0: This was a throwback to both the good and the bad old days of English football. Tottenham cruised into the FA Cup semi-finals, 6-0, beating a Millwall side whose wholehearted effort on the pitch was marred by the behaviour of supporters off it.

There were scores of riot police down Tottenham High Road, ugly clashes in the streets before and after the game, and a skirmish in the corporate boxes. There appeared to be racist chanting from the Millwall section of the ground towards Heung-Min Son, Tottenham’s south Korean forward, who scored a hat-trick to make up for the early loss of Harry Kane. Kane left White Hart Lane on crutches, after injuring his right ankle in the eighth minute.

It is the same ankle that Kane injured in September, when it put him out of action for seven weeks, and Mauricio Pochettino is hoping the Premier League’s leading scorer is not badly injured again.

“It is the same injury, but it is too early to say how bad it is. He will have a scan tomorrow and I hope it is not a big issue.”

Kane’s absence will be a blow for Tottenham, and for England, who have a friendly in Germany, and a World Cup qualifier against Lithuania, coming up later this month, but the Football Association have more pressing concerns, with Millwall’s supporters back in the dock.

However much the club tries to distance itself from its dark history, some supporters thrive on throwbacks to the past.

It was shocking to hear racist chanting and jeering, and Millwall’s manager, Neil Harris, condemned it. “I didn’t hear anything, but me, personally, and the club, do not condone that sort of thing.

“We want people to enjoy the game. I am sure it will be investigated by the authorities and we want these people dealt with harshly. It’s a problem in society, and it’s wrong that it is in football.”

Rather than intimidate Son, however, the abuse seemed to spur him on, which was just as well, after Kane limped off in the early stages, following a jarring challenge as he tried to score.

If Millwall thought the loss of Kane might lessen the threat Tottenham posed, they were sadly mistaken. Christian Eriksen replaced Kane and opened the scoring in the 31st minute, hitting a low volley into the far corner of Tom King’s goal, after Dele Alli controlled a loose ball. Alli should have had a penalty earlier, when Millwall captain, Tony Craig, pulled him down as he turned in the area, but referee, Martin Atkinson, waved play on.

But Son was not to be denied and scored his first goal shortly before half-time. It was an absolute beauty. The ball was swiftly shuttled from Tottenham’s defence to attack, and although Son’s initial touch was sloppy, his finish was sublime. He cut in from the right and curled an unstoppable shot into the far corner of the goal. That made it 2-0.

Millwall were on an unbeaten run of 17 games and had seen off Premier League sides Bournemouth, Watford, and Leicester in previous rounds.

But Spurs are at a different level, unbeaten at White Hart Lane this season, and in what is likely to be the last FA Cup game at the old stadium, before it is pulled down, were unforgiving. Millwall mustered only one effort of note, a curling shot from Steve Morison that went high and wide of goal, midway through the first-half, and Tottenham’s stand-in keeper, Michel Vorm, hardly had a shot to save.

Spurs put the game beyond reach nine minutes into the second-half, with another cracker from Son, who ran on to a long forward pass from Danny Trippier and volleyed the ball expertly past King, from close range.

Son almost completed his hat-trick in the 63rd minute: he shot just over from a tight angle, but there was always the sense Spurs would score more. Millwall’s players were tiring.

Alli provided the fourth, in the 72nd minute, timing his run to the back post to perfection to sidefoot Eriksen’s cross, past King.

Pochettino then replaced Alli with Vincent Janssen, who was still searching for his first goal for the club from open play.

It came within six minutes, as Son cut in from the left, played a short pass, and the Dutchman swung his left boot, for a first-time finish inside the near post. Janssen’s smile was as wide as the spaces in Millwall’s defence, and with the clock counting down in stoppage time, Son finally completed his hat-trick and made it 6-0. He met Eriksen’s cross with a left-footed volley, which went in via a fumble from the hapless King, who failed to hold the ball on the line.

“Spurs are on their way to Wembley,” sang their gleeful fans, while Millwall are back to more prosaic pastures in their bid to win promotion from League One. “Que sera, sera, we’re going to Shrewsbury,” sang their supporters, who showed a sense of gallows humour among the hatred.

But they will be remembered for the wrong reasons, once again, and disciplinary action is likely to follow.

TOTTENHAM (3-5-2):

Vorm 7; Dier 6, Alderweireld 8, Vertonghen 8; Trippier 7, Winks 8, Wanyama 8 (Sissoko 78), Alli 6 (Janssen 74), Davies 7; Son 9, Kane 6 (Eriksen 10)

MILLWALL (4-4-2):

King 5; Cummings 4, Webster 5, Cooper 5, Craig 6; Wallace 4 (Ferguson 70), Williams 6, Thompson 5 (Butcher 46) O’Brien 5; Gregory 5, Morison 6(Onyedinma 58)

Referee:

M Atkinson