Tottenham booked their place in the EFL Cup's last 16 after a routine 3-0 home victory over Doncaster Rovers on Wednesday.
2025/2026 League Cup
3-0
Match Report
Thomas Frank rotated for the visit of Grant McCann's League One side, though Spurs' depth of talent soon showed as they surged out of sight in the opening 20 minutes.
Joao Palhinha opened the scoring with an inventive 14th-minute overhead kick after goalkeeper Ian Lawlor parried Xavi Simons' corner towards him near the penalty spot.
That one-goal advantage was doubled three minutes later when Wilson Odobert eased past Tom Nixon before his wicked cross deflected off the helpless Jay McGrath and past Lawlor for an own goal.
Doncaster captain Owen Bailey almost pulled one back before the interval, though backup goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky produced an expert stop to tip a smart volley onto his right-hand post.
Bailey tested Kinsky again in an encouraging start from Doncaster in the second half, while Glenn Middleton curled a delightful free-kick narrowly wide.
A late tap-in from Lucas Bergvall was then ruled out for offside, but Spurs would not be denied a third goal as the midfielder teed up Brennan Johnson to seal the win with a cute dink over Lawlor.
Data Debrief: Lower-tier shock avoided by Spurs
Tottenham have now progressed from 18 of their last 19 EFL Cup ties against sides from a lower division, the only exception coming in 2019-20, when they were beaten on penalties by Colchester United.
The result was to be expected, though, given Doncaster have faced top-flight opposition in 17 matches in the competition, losing 14 of them (W1 D2).
Frank's side were far from dominant in terms of attacking output, however, accumulating 1.62 expected goals to Doncaster's 0.73.
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
3' Match Event for Tottenham vs Doncaster Rovers
11' Highlight from Tottenham vs Doncaster Rovers
14' GOAL! Tottenham 1-0 Doncaster Rovers (João Palhinha)
17' OWN GOAL! Tottenham 2-0 Doncaster Rovers (Jay McGrath)
26' Match Event for Tottenham vs Doncaster Rovers
27' Match Event for Tottenham vs Doncaster Rovers
40' Match Event for Tottenham vs Doncaster Rovers
44' Highlight from Tottenham vs Doncaster Rovers
66' Highlight from Tottenham vs Doncaster Rovers
73' Match Event for Tottenham vs Doncaster Rovers
87' Match Event for Tottenham vs Doncaster Rovers
90' Match Event for Tottenham vs Doncaster Rovers
Line-ups
Tottenham XI: Palhinha, Bentancur, Danso, Spence, Porro, Brennan Johnson, Xavi Simons, Kinsky, Tel, Odobert, Gray
Subs: Richarlison, Austin, Udojie, Van de Ven, Dane Scarlett, Bergvall, Jun'ai Byfield, Lucá Williams-Barnett, tynan thompson
Doncaster Rovers XI: Ian Lawlor, Ben Close, Glenn Middleton, Toyosi Olusanya, Jack Senior, Joe Sbarra, Owen Bailey, Sean Grehan, Tom Nixon, Damola Ajayi, Jay McGrath
Subs: Brandon Hanlan, Luke Molyneux, Zain Westbrooke, Jordan Gibson, Robbie Gotts, Thimothée Lo-Tutala, James Maxwell, Connor O'Riordan, Charlie Crew