Son Heung-min’s brace and Arnaut Danjuma’s debut goal saw Tottenham defeat Preston 3-0 at Deepdale to reach Fifth Round of 2022-23 FA Cup.
After a drab first-half performance, Son put Tottenham ahead in the 50th minute with a stunning curled strike from Japhet Tanganga’s pass.
Son then doubled Spurs’ lead in the 69th minute as he fired in from Ivan Perisic’s flicked pass.
Arnaut Danjuma on debut completed victory with a 87th minute strike to send Tottenham through into the Fifth Round.
Buoyed by their clinical Premier League win at Fulham amidst several change of players, Tottenham began brightly with a dominating press which yielded early set pieces in the opening 15 minutes.
Their best chance during those early exchanges though came in the seventh minute as Perisic played a free-kick low through the wall, which found Davinson Sanchez but Dejan Kulusevski gathered possession only to blast his shot wide from close-range.
Son Heung-min then produced curled shots in the 16th and 25th minute respectively, which were both saved by Freddie Woodman.
Preston meanwhile steadily grew into the game despite struggling carve out any decent chances before half-time, yet showed excellent defensive discipline and organisation to frustrate Spurs repeatedly.
Kulusevski almost put Spurs ahead in the 36th minute as he blasted wide from 25 yards, having met a calmly worked corner kick but the North London-based visitors weren’t able to break the deadlock before the break.
Spurs though were able to quickly resume their dominance after half-time which paid off just five minutes into the second half, as Son picked up a pass from Tanganga and curled across on his left foot into the bottom left corner.
Preston soon set about trying to equalise but lacked much end product as their best chance fell to Ben Whiteman, in which the midfielder curled wide of the left corner from just outside of the box in the 62nd minute.
The hosts’ sloppiness eventually was almost punished three minutes later as Perisic latched onto a cross but Woodman flicked the Croatian’s header over the bar.
Son however secured Spurs’ place in the Fifth Round a further four minutes later as he pounced upon Perisic’s flicked pass, spun Jordan Storey and calmly smashed into the net to double the visitors’ lead.
Spurs’ debutant, Danjuma meanwhile almost found the net just minutes after he came on as a 71st minute substitute, as he teed up Son in an one-two move but the return pass was cut out before he could reclaim possession and attempt a shot.
Danjuma eventually got his first goal for Tottenham in the 87th minute as he turned in Kulusevski’s low cross to seal victory.
Tottenham thereafter comfortably saw out only their second win in six away meetings against Preston at Deepdale in the FA Cup, which now means that they will be in the Fifth Round for the fourth consecutive season – having last lost at this Fourth Round stage in 2018-19 season.
What’s Next?
Preston resume their push for the Championship play-offs with a home clash against Bristol City at Deepdale on Saturday 4 February, in a 3pm GMT kick-off.
Tottenham take on Manchester City on Sunday 5 February at 4:30pm GMT at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, in a crucial clash in the race for a top-four Premier League finish.
Teams
Preston: Freddie Woodman, Jordan Storey, Liam Lindsay, Andrew Hughes, Alan Browne, Alistair McCann (Johnson 78′), Ryan Ledson (Woodburn 70′), Ben Whiteman, Robbie Brady (Fernandez 78′), Ched Evans (Cross-Adair 90′), Tom Cannon
Substitutes: David Cornell, Patrick Bauer, Bambo Diaby, Greg Cunningham, Brad Potts, Alvaro Fernandez, Daniel Johnson, Ben Woodburn, Finlay Cross-Adair
Tottenham: Fraser Forster, Japhet Tanganga, Davinson Sanchez, Clement Lenglet, Matt Doherty (Royal 71′), Yves Bissouma, Rodrigo Bentancur (Skipp 71′), Ryan Sessegnon (Danjuma 71′), Dejan Kulusevski, Son Heung-min (Gil 85′), Ivan Perisic
Substitutes: Brandon Austin, Eric Dier, Ben Davies, Emerson Royal, Oliver Skipp, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Bryan Gil, Arnaut Danjuma, Harry Kane
Referee: Peter Bankes
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