Tottenham Hotspur cruised their way into the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 6-1 win over Rochdale on Wednesday night.
The Spurs fans that braved freezing weather conditions were treated to a goal glut at Wembley as a sublime second-half performance ensured a comfortable victory.
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino opted to rotate his team for the cup clash, giving a number of fringe players the opportunity to play.
Fernando Llorente duly took his opportunity with both hands, scoring a second-half hat-trick, while Son Heung-min also netted twice.
Kyle Walker-Peters completed the Tottenham rout by scoring at the end – his first goal for the club.
Pochettino picked out the three Spurs goalscorers for specific praise in the aftermath of the game, stating that he was happy with the trio.
“I’m so happy because the job is done, we are in the quarter-finals and that was our objective,” the Tottenham boss told the club’s official website.
“I’m happy for different players, for Fernando Llorente with his hat-trick and Kyle Walker-Peters because he scored, and I think the performance was good.
“I’m very pleased for Llorente and very pleased for the team. For a striker, it’s so important to feel the net.”
Son was at the heart of everything that was good about Tottenham and Pochettino reiterated the South Korean’s importance to the first-team squad.
“I knew you would ask about Son – it was very good, very good,” Football London quote the Spurs boss as saying.
“I think Sonny is having a fantastic season, such an important player for us. I am happy, happy for him.”
While many bemoaned the extra fixture in Tottenham’s calendar after the initial draw against Rochdale, the replay proved a valuable outing for many of those that played.
Juan Foyth was handed another start, Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela were given the chance to build match fitness and Llorente managed to break his goal drought.
The interchange between the Tottenham attacking players was arguably the bright point of the evening, with Lamela, Moura, Son and Llorente all playing extremely well and striking up partnerships.
While Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane will come back into the Spurs side for Premier League clashes, it is great to see the strength in depth, and quality, that Pochettino has available in the final third.