Spurs show strength in depth to expose Leicester fragility

Leicester City 0 Tottenham 2.

A brilliant goal from Son Heung-min booked Tottenham Hotspurs their place in the FA Cup fourth round at the expense of high-flyers Leicester.

The north London side now face League One's Colchester in the fourth round on Saturday week, while Leicester are free to concentrate on the Premier League and end a poor run of form that has seen them win just once in their last seven matches in all competitions.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Though they remain second in the table, the signs are that the Midlands club are beginning to feel the pace of a gruelling season. After their 2-2 draw at White Hart Lane in the initial tie, it had been expected that the replay would be another tight affair, but the visitors were rarely troubled in a match they dominated.

Spurs went one up five minutes before half-time, when Kasper Schmeichel was beaten by Son's powerful 20-yard strike. The South Korean was also the provider for his side's second, sliding the ball through for Nacer Chadli to make it 2-0 midway through the second half.

"We showed we have a strong squad and can compete in every competition," said Mauricio Pochettino, whose side are fourth in the Premier League, just five points behind leaders Arsenal and Leicester. "This was a good opportunity for Nacer and Son to show that they can score so we are very pleased.

"We can improve, yes, and if we find the right player then OK, but if not, I am very happy with the squad that we have. We are at a fantastic level at the moment. I'm very pleased with the competition between our attacking players, very pleased with the balance in the squad."

Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri fielded a team showing nine changes from the Foxes' last league match but Tottenham bossed the midfield, starving Leicester's lone striker, Leonardo Ulloa, of the ball. "Tottenham deserved to win," conceded Ranieri. "Our priority is the Premier League...[so] now I can give my players one or two days more off to recover, because we are spending a lot of energy in every match."