Tottenham Hotspur are in the hat for the FA Cup fourth round, but they’ll have to do battle once again in order to rubber-stamp their place in the competition.
Championship outfit Middlesbrough held Jose Mourinho’s side at the Riverside Stadium with the top-flight side needing to come from behind to salvage a draw.
Boro striker Ashley Fletcher opened the scoring early in the second half with a slotted finish past Paulo Gazzaniga with Lucas Moura becoming Spurs’ saviour after he headed home just after the hour mark.
His finish came just five minutes after attacking midfielder Giovani Lo Celso was introduced, which was no coincidence in the visitors changing their fortunes around according to some supporters.
Even the manager himself hailed the Argentian’s performance, Mourinho added: “The boys reacted. Giovani Lo Celso and Erik Lamela helped us a lot. If one team has to win, it has to be us. We played well very in the last 20 minutes.”
Here’s what the travelling fans had to say…
A couple of supporters labelled the 23-year-old as their Man of the Match despite coming off the bench halfway through the second half while others used a range of superlatives to describe his showing, including ‘gifted,’ ‘gem’ and ‘game-changer.’
It has led to many calls for Mourinho to start the impactful Lo Celso after playing just 15 times this season, only four of which being starts, per Transfermarkt.
Lo Celso is only on loan in north London and despite a lack of game time so far this campaign, plenty would love to see him remain at the club permanently.
According to Marca, Spurs can sign him for £27m this month or wait until the summer when that will increase to £34m.
The Real Betis man has even been compared to Christian Eriksen, who is expected to depart the club at some point in 2020 with many believing the Argentinian is far better than the long-serving playmaker.
They certainly believe he can be the man to replace him, whether that is this month or in the summer remains to be seen.
Harry Kane’s recent injury may scupper plans to sign the 22-cap international depending on Daniel Levy’s willingness to open the chequebook this month.
The England striker is set to be out until March with a hamstring tear which would be a devastating blow to Mourinho given that Kane is their only senior centre-forward.
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Meanwhile, these Spurs fans have been discussing the possible arrival of this £37.8m-rated striker this month…
