Tottenham beat Arsenal 2-0 to book Carabao Cup semi-final spot

Tottenham advanced to the Carabao Cup semi-finals with a comfortable 2-0 victory over north London rivals Arsenal.

Heung-Min Son and Dele Alli scored either side of half-time to ensure Mauricio Pochettino’s side gained some revenge for their Premier League defeat at the Emirates earlier this month.

Paulo Gazzaniga was on hand to deny both Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Aaron Ramsey during an entertaining first-half, while Alexandre Lacazette hit the post for Arsenal straight after Alli doubled Spurs’ lead, but the visitors ended up seeing out the game comfortably.

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The Gunners enjoyed the best of the opening stages, with Ramsey firing wide of the post after eight minutes on his 350th appearance as an Arsenal player.

Christian Eriksen and Alli both failed to direct efforts on targets, before Mkhitaryan passed up a glorious chance to hand Arsenal the lead on 12 minutes.

He played a one-two with Ramsey that split open the Spurs defence and saw him played through on goal. But the Armenian saw his shot well-saved by Spurs back-up Gazzaniga.

Spurs made them pay on 21 minutes, only after VAR had confirmed Son was onside. He latched onto Alli’s perfectly weighted ball over the top and slotted it beyond Petr Cech and into the back of the net.

Mousa Sissoko should have doubled that lead on the half-hour mark. Spurs broke after Lucas Moura won the ball back in their own box, incisive, quick passing saw Sissoko teed up on the edge of the box, but he fired the ball way over the bar.

It should have been all square before half-time, only for Gazzaniga to prove once again that he is a more than capable deputy.

Ramsey’s first-time volley from a cross looked destined for the top corner, only for Gazzaniga to brilliantly tip it onto the post and ensure Spurs led at the break.

Arsenal have a reputation as a second-half team under Emery, but it was Spurs who struck the next blow.

With pretty much his first touch, Harry Kane bettered Alli’s assist from the first half and clipped a ball over the top into his England team-mate’s path. Alli’s finished with arrogance, lifting the ball over Cech with the outside of his boot.

Arsenal nearly levelled straight away, but Alexandre Lacazette’s scuffed effort clipped the outside of the post.

One Arsenal fans’ frustration with his side’s performance went too far, as Alli was struck on the back of the head by a water bottle. The England midfielder responded by signalling the 2-0 scoreline to the crowd.

An incident that marred an otherwise perfect night for Spurs and Alli, who will face Chelsea, Burton Albion or Manchester City in the semi-final.