Carabao Cup 2019-20: Colchester shock Tottenham Hotspur in Round 3

The third round of Carabao Cup 2019-20 began on Tuesday night with multiple Premier League teams entering the competition. Tottenham Hotspur met Colchester United as 9000 people cheered them on. Colchester pulled off a spectacular upset as they knocked out the Premier League giants after the game went to penalties, being 0-0 AET. Colchester are ranked 71 places below Tottenham in English League football.

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Carabao Cup: Exceptional Colchester

The starting 11 for Tottenham did not include their usual stars like Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Christian Eriksen. One would not predict that this would make a difference to their performance as Colchester are a League Two team, which is the fourth tier in English Club Football. Tottenham created a few opportunities for themselves in the start but nothing could come off it. Colchester gave them a tough fight and did not let them capitalise or get any real momentum. Son and Eriksen were subbed in to help Tottenham change their fortunes but to no avail. At the end of full time, both teams sat tied at 0-0.

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It came down to a penalty shootout where Lucas Moura and Christian Eriksen missed and Colchester's Tom Lapsie got one through Paulo Gazzaniga's defence to send the team into a frenzy. Fans invaded the pitch to celebrate with Colchester as they had beaten Tottenham on penalties, 4-3. This is the first time Colchester have made it through to the round of 16 in 44 years. This victory came after Colchester knocked out Premier League's Crystal Palace on penalties in round two.

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Carabao Cup: A disappointing run for Tottenham

Spurs have had a poor run this season, so far. Manager Mauricio Pochettino added how Colchester gave Spurs a run for their money. The team has not had a great start to their Premier League campaign as well and are currently sitting seventh on the table, 10 points behind leaders Liverpool. The 2018/19 Champions League runners-up also blew their lead in their first UCL match last week against Olympiacos. Tottenham were leading by two goals but let Olympiacos make a comeback, ending the match in a draw. Pochettino and his men will have to rework their tactics if they want to win silverware this season.

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