A rare headed goal from Lucas Moura was enough to send Tottenham Hotspur to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup

The 29-year-old came on as an early first-half substitute, replacing the injured Bryan Gil, and he shone brightly in a game that lacked in quality from both teams. 

Burnley huffed and puffed but they just couldn't find a way back into the match. It felt like a game that would be decided by a single goal and that proved to be the case. 

Story of the match

Both teams made six changes for this clash, with Son Heung-min and Hugo Lloris the most notable absentees for Spurs. 

Burnley gave a debut to summer signing Connor Roberts but Maxwel Cornet, the club's top-scorer this season, was on the bench. 

Spurs made a bright start in the early stages and could have taken an early lead. 

Giovani Lo Celso surged forward and slipped Harry Kane in behind the Burnley defence. However, the out-of-sorts striker skewed his left-footed effort well wide. An early let off for the hosts. 

Burnley competed well and had some joy on the right with debutant Roberts offering width, allowing Johann Berg Gudmundsson to drift into inside spaces more easily. 

When Moura arrived on the field, he was immediately involved in the thick of the action – finding Lo Celso in an inviting position before forcing Josh Brownhill into a clumsy tackle just outside the box. It was a sign of what was to come from the best player on the pitch.

Collisions started coming thick and fast around the half-hour mark. Dwight McNeil took a forceful challenge from Oliver Skipp and a strange incident whereby Roberts, Nathan Collins and Steven Bergwijn all seemed to fall on top of each other – a moment rather symptomatic of a slow-paced opening. 

<strong><a  data-cke-saved-href='https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2021/03/13/premier-league/1063322-everton-1-2-burnley-clarets-create-merseyside-history-with-win-at-goodison-park.html' href='https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2021/03/13/premier-league/1063322-everton-1-2-burnley-clarets-create-merseyside-history-with-win-at-goodison-park.html'>Dwight McNeil</a></strong> felt this cruncher from <strong><a  data-cke-saved-href='https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2021/08/30/norwich-city/1084254-the-warm-down-var-heartbreak-as-the-canaries-make-costly-errors-in-foxes-return.html' href='https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2021/08/30/norwich-city/1084254-the-warm-down-var-heartbreak-as-the-canaries-make-costly-errors-in-foxes-return.html'>Oliver Skipp</a></strong>: George Wood/GettyImages
Dwight McNeil felt this cruncher from Oliver Skipp: George Wood/GettyImages

With half-time approaching, Moura blitzed clear of the Burnley midfield and broke into the box. With Kane on one side and Bergwijn on the other, the Brazilian seemed caught in two minds and his attempted pass to the latter was easily cut out. 

Shortly after, Moura almost atoned with a cute flicked header to the back-post, but Kane couldn't keep his acrobatic effort down. 

Burnley started the second-half with intent and almost carved open a chance in classic Burnley fashion. 

McNeil found Erik Pieters and the Dutchman's inviting cross was nodded back across goal by Roberts, however, the ball bounced off the arm of Jay Rodriguez as he looked to finish from point-blank range. 

Rodriguez and Vydra struggled for service and the duo made way for Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes on the hour mark. 

Wood almost made the wrong early impression, easily losing the ball on half-way and opening up a dangerous Tottenham counter-attack. Kane slipped Lo Celso in on goal but the Argentine was denied by a stunning Nick Pope stop. 

Nuno Espirito Santo called on Son to turn the tide but it was his earlier substitute who broke the deadlock.

Emerson Royal's floated delivery found Moura, who sent a header bouncing off the ground, away from the dive of Pope, and into the back of the net. A well controlled header. 

Moura was having an excellent match and, buoyed by his goal, he soon forced Pope into another smart save with a fizzing effort from outside the box.

Emerson, the assist maker, almost became a goal-scorer as he shifted inside Pieters, but his shot was too close to the goalkeeper. 

Sean Dyche threw on Aaron Lennon and Cornet as a last throw of the dice but they were unable to break down a resilient Tottenham defence. 

A tame effort from Barnes was Burnley's only recognisable shot on-target, and it came in the final ten minutes. Pierluigi Gollini, the back-up goalkeeper, had no problems collecting the strike.  

Those that made the journey on this cold, wet and windy night deserve tremendous credit because they certainly weren't treated to a classic!

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