FA Cup/ Cardiff City 0 Tottenham Hotspur 0:Tottenham have developed into knock-out experts this season, progressing to the League Cup semi-finals and qualifying with maximum points from their Uefa Cup group, but their manager Martin Jol was satisfied after leaving south Wales with a replay last night.
Although his team rarely looked like losing, which would have meant that Cardiff joined their old rivals, Swansea City, in eliminating Premiership opponents, they were never at ease against such an energetic side.
The Championship club were Spurs' equals on the day, dominating patches of the game but failing to take the few chances that did come their way.
Tottenham's creativity was similarly in short supply and they cannot have felt pleased with their attacking contribution in a tight game. Jermain Defoe twice might have scored but that was effectively the sum of their efforts. A lack of spark in midfield was partly responsible but Cardiff also defended well, with Glenn Loovens impressive at centre-half.
The relief that Jol expressed afterwards was understandable, particularly given he had watched his team lose to Championship opponents, Leicester City, at the same stage last season.
There were nervous moments for Tottenham, though, in the closing minutes as Cardiff pushed for a winner, with Teemu Tainio having to make an excellent sliding challenge to deny Joe Ledley a shooting chance. But for the most part Tottenham dealt with the pressure with limited alarms, with Michael Dawson impressing in the second half to help keep Cardiff out.
However, this result will cause congestion for Tottenham. The replay will take place during the week in which they had been scheduled to play their League Cup semi-final first leg against Arsenal or Liverpool, and a Premiership game will have to be postponed to accommodate that rearranged tie.
There was minor crowd trouble just after the hour mark, when riot police had to move in to contain Tottenham fans who had surged towards the front of their enclosure. A flare was then thrown by a Cardiff supporter towards the Tottenham followers and landed in no-man's land; the host club are likely to be fined by the English FA.
Cardiff demonstrated why they have gone 11 games without a win by lacking a clinical edge. Michael Chopra was full of running up front but poked wide when seizing on a poor header by Lee Young-pyo, who was too often careless, as Paul Robinson rushed off his goalline.
Later Ricardo Scimeca was to slice an effort off target when set up by Dubliner Willo Flood.
• Guardian Service
