Ange Postecoglou launches into passionate defence of his tactics after Spurs nearly threw away three-goal lead in frantic 4-3 win over Man United

Ange Postecoglou hailed his Great Entertainers as Tottenham booked their place in the Carabao Cup semi-final after a seven-goal thriller against Manchester United.

Dominic Solanke’s double helped Spurs romp into a 3-0 lead before two howlers from goalkeeper Fraser Forster let the visitors back into the game.

Tottenham captain Heung-min Son added a fourth directly from a corner but there was still time for Jonny Evans to force a tense finish with a late third for United.

‘Are you not entertained,’ declared Postecoglou as he channelled Russell Crowe from the film Gladiator in defence of his side’s non-stop attacking style.

‘What do you want? Do you want a scrambling one nil? I know the TV studio is probably going to be in a meltdown over my lack of tactics but, you know what, I love the fact that we go out there and just take it to our opposition.

‘Even though we’ve got so many absences at the moment, goalkeeper, both centre halves, left backs, we’ve got kids on the bench, and yet these boys are maintaining their principles about trying to play the football we want to be.

Spurs reached the Carabao Cup semi-finals after triumphing in a pulsating seven-goal thriller

Goalkeeper Fraser Forster made two calamitous mistakes to gift United a route back into the tie

‘We played so well, we were well in control of the game and then, a bit like our season has gone, we self-inflicted some pain on ourselves. 

‘It should have been a lot more comfortable but we still can’t get away from the fact this group of players is doing an unbelievable job getting us through this. 

‘I am so proud of the players.’

Postecoglou also leapt to the defence of his goalkeeper Forster whose two glaring errors gifted goals to Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo.

‘He’s disappointed,’ added Postecoglou. ‘He didn’t have a lot to do in the first half and was really good with his feet. The first mistake affected his confidence, and he lost a bit of belief, and the second one compounded it. 

‘He’s a big boy and has stood up for us big-time in this period.’

The Spurs boss was dealt yet another blow to his injury-ravaged side before the game with Timo Werner ruled out through illness.

‘He woke up this morning with a fever, the doc went to see him and we had to rule him out,’ added Postecoglou. ‘It’s just the way things are for us. I don’t roll up to game day looking for good news. It’s just incredible.’

Joshua Zirkzee swept home after a loose pass from Forster put Spurs under pressure

Heung-min Son scored directly from a late corner to ease nerves among the home side

Ruben Amorim rejected the idea that United had been the victims of cup chaos

United boss Ruben Amorim defended his decision once again to leave Marcus Rashford out of the squad for the second game in a row despite watching his side crash out of the cup.

Rashford missed the Manchester derby and then revealed in a bombshell interview that he was ‘ready for a new challenge’ ahead of the game at Spurs.

‘No, it is not [a mistake],’ insisted Amorim about his decision. ‘I feel that I do the right thing for the team so it’s never a mistake. 

‘We have to make a selection, sometimes you lack in the game and you see some guys go into the game and change it a bit but I don’t think it was a mistake because I’m always doing the best for the team in my way of seeing things.’

Despite watching his side come out on the wrong side of a seven-goal thriller, Amorim rejected the idea that his side had been the victims of some cup chaos.

‘I didn’t feel that,’ said Amorim. ‘Eight minutes of second half was like that. We were losing balls in transitions but during almost all of the game, we were controlling things. I saw a team that knows what we want to do so it was chaotic. 

‘I could not see chaos in my team.’