Tottenham assistant head coach Cristian Stellini has apologized to club fans who were kicked out of the FA Cup by Sheffield United.
Blades substitute Iliman Ndiaye’s single shot in the second half clinched the victory. Sky Betting Championship promotion hunters home quarterfinal draw against Blackburn.
Tottenham’s hopes for a big trophy remain – they won the League Cup in 2008 – and have been knocked out of the FA Cup three times in the fifth round in the last four years.
head coach Antonio Conte He missed his team’s final debut while recovering from gallbladder surgery, and Stellini said: “I think we missed a great opportunity and we should apologize to the fans.
“5,000 people were here to watch our performance and we apologize for missing a great opportunity.”
The closest Tottenham came to scoring was when Lucas Moura grazed the post in the first half and became a substitute in the 65th minute. Harry Kane Ivan Perisic’s timeout headed diagonally.
Stellini made and announced six changes following Sunday’s Chelsea win England Captain Kane was battling the disease.
“I think the team we chose to play the game is good,” Stellini said. “We used a good team to play this game against this kind of opponent. The problem was the energy.
“Sometimes you can lose when the energy is not at the same level as your opponent. We had a chance to score, but we couldn’t find the goal.”
Missing last month’s win at Fulham due to illness, Kane moved up to fourth place in the Premier League with a goal in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Chelsea.
Stellini insisted that starting with Kane on the bench at Bramall Lane was the right decision.
“No regrets,” the Italian added. We need to look at the mid-term, we have a lot of games.
“Harry Kane has played in the last six games, once fired, once in trouble. We have to protect our best player.
It’s not about Harry (loss) because we played with Richarlison, Lucas Moura and Sonny (Son Heung-min).
“I think it’s good enough to play in this competition and against that kind of team.”
knife boss Paul Heckingbottom Match winner Ndiaye hailed the Senegal striker’s 11th goal of the season in all competitions, dancing around three Tottenham defenders in the 79th minute.
Heckingbottom, whose team has reached the final eight of the FA Cup three times in the last four years, said: “Expect nothing more (from Ndiaye) – I’m just happy that he reached his goal.
“Things have dried up a bit for him, but we know what he still brings us in every game.
“He probably showed a slightly different audience what he could do with another big goal. He can do this against anyone.
“He’s incredible with the ball, there aren’t many Premier League players who can do what he does with the ball. His outstanding quality is his agility with the ball.”
Heckingbottom watched from the bridge after initiating a three-game touchline ban due to his recent dismissal against Middlesbrough.
“The players made a good watch for me,” he added. “I was looking forward to the game for many reasons, but I was also scared because I wasn’t on the sidelines.
“But they made a good watch for me, so I thank them for that.”