Tottenham have no fewer than four players in the FA Cup team of the quarter-final, with Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Middlesbrough also included.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side romped to a 6-0 win over London rivals Millwall to secure their spot in the next round of England’s famous cup competition, with a Son Heung-min hat-trick earning the South Korean star the player of the round accolade. Son earned a perfect WhoScored 10 rating, with six key passes, one assist - that for Vincent Janssen’s first Spurs goal from open play - and four dribbles contributing to the award.
Christian Eriksen replaced Harry Kane after 10 minutes due to injury and thrived to open the scoring on the half hour mark and twice turned provider after the interval, teeing up first Dele Alli and then Son late on. Jan Vertonghen and Kieran Trippier round off the Spurs contingent, with the former playing a key role in defence, while the latter got forward well and provided an assist for Son’s second goal.
.jpg "Son shines as Tottenham and Arsenal dominate FA Cup XI")
Arsenal quickly follow suit with three entrants in the team courtesy of Alexis Sanchez, Aaron Ramsey and Kieran Gibbs as the Gunners trounced lower league Lincoln 5-0. Alexis earned the WhoScored man of the match award with his rating (9.68) second only to Son in the four FA Cup games. The Chilean netted in the latter stages of the game and could have had a second late on, only to be denied by the woodwork. Gibbs provided the assist for Arsenal’s opener, while Ramsey scored his first and the Gunners’ fifth with 15 minutes to go as three interceptions, two dribbles and a 91.1% pass success rate helped earn a WhoScored rating of 8.56.
Spearheading the attack is Sergio Aguero, with the Argentine wrapping up the win midway through the second half to score his sixth goal in his last five appearances. Compatriot Nicolas Otamendi features in defence, with six aerial duels won, six clearances and three tackles ensuring a clean sheet for City. That being said, Pep Guardiola’s side would have won by more than the 2-0 scoreline had it not been for Brad Guzan. The Middlesbrough goalkeeper made eight saves over the 90 minutes to keep the City attack at bay and give Boro every chance to upsetting the odds, though his efforts were ultimately in vain.
Rounding off the XI from the FA Cup is Chelsea star N’Golo Kante. In a heated affair at Stamford Bridge, the Frenchman proved to be the difference between the two sides, with his long range effort early in the second half securing Chelsea’s place in the next round of the competition. Interestingly, Kante’s two goals for the Blues have both been scored at Stamford Bridge against Manchester United. While not an attacking midfielder by trade, Kante got forward well to make four key passes, but did not let this hinder his defensive responsibilities as he made four tackles, four clearances and one interception to secure the man of the match award with a WhoScored rating of 9.08.
It was Son, though, who stole the show this week, with his hat-trick a timely reminder of his goalscoring qualities, with that all the more important considering Kane’s latest injury setback.
For more stats on the FA Cup quarter-finals, click here to head to WhoScored.com's competition page
