LONDON: Jose Mourinho reached his first final as Tottenham Hotspur manager after Son Heung-min and Moussa Sissoko clinched a 2-0 victory over Brentford in the League Cup on Tuesday.

But Spurs will have to wait 110 days before contesting the final against Manchester United or Manchester City in April’s showpiece match.

Mourinho will have a chance to deliver Tottenham’s first trophy since winning the League Cup in 2008. And he knows all about success in this lesser-regarded competition after lifting the trophy four times across spells in charge of Chelsea and Manchester United, including when the west London club beat Spurs in the 2015 final.

“I had to learn the meaning of the cups here and I always took it serious,” said Mourinho, who was hired by Tottenham in November 2019. “I think if there is any secret it is to take it seriously.

“The final is now in a pocket for three months, we have to wait for the final so we have to focus on what we have coming up. We have the FA Cup, the Premier League, the Europa league, so let’s forget the final for now. But when April arrives we have to be ready and to fight for the trophy.”

Second-division Brentford knocked out four Premier League sides to reach the semi-finals, but gifted Spurs an opening goal in the 12th minute when unmarked French midfielder Sissoko headed in a fine Sergio Reguilon cross from the left at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The visitors thought they had drawn level after the break when striker Ivan Toney headed home but the goal was disallowed for a very tight offside, which was spotted by VAR. Toney’s grounded knee was ruled to be offside before he rose to head in from close range after Ethan Pinnock nodded a cross back across the face of goal.

Spurs responded to that let-off with South Korean forward Son collecting a fine pass from Tanguy Ndombele and bursting goalwards before slotting past goalkeeper David Raya to make it 2-0 after 70 minutes.

Brentford’s disappointment was compounded when Josh Dasilva was sent off six minutes from time for an over-the-top challenge on Tottenham’s Denmark midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who was immediately substituted with blood streaming down his shin.

The final has been pushed from February to April 25 in the hope that fans will be allowed in unlike any sporting event now in the country.

This semi-final was the first game since the start of England’s third lockdown on Tuesday, with the toughest laws since those imposed in early stage of the pandemic last March when even professional sport was prohibited.

A return to Wembley will be familiar for Spurs, who used the north London stadium as a temporary home from 2017 to 2019 while their new stadium was being built.

But Spurs haven’t contested a final there since that 2015 League Cup final loss to Chelsea.

“I know a lot of the boys have been here a long time now and we are desperate to win trophies for the club,” said Tottenham defender Eric Dier, who played in that final. “It’s something we’re hungry to do.”

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2021