Comeback of the season? West Ham stun Spurs with fightback from 2-0 down to send arch rivals crashing out of cup at Wembley

Tottenham 2-3 West Ham: Slaven Bilic rescued by guardian Angelo Ogbonna as Spurs take Hammers to the brink before Andre Ayew helps them hit back and secure Carabao Cup quarter-final spot

• Moussa Sissoko put Mauricio Pochettino's side in front after a swift Spurs counter attack on six minutes
• The home team then doubled their lead shortly before the break thanks to Dele Alli's deflected effort
• Andre Ayew gave West Ham hope 10 minutes into the second half after reacting first to a loose ball
• The striker then levelled the scores five minutes later after good work by Manuel Lanzini and Andy Carroll
• Angelo Ogbonna then completed the remarkable turnaround when he headed home on 70 minutes 
• AS IT HAPPENED: Relive all the action from a dramatic night of Carabao Cup last-16 action on Wednesday 

As Angelo Ogbonna’s winning goal settled into the back of the Tottenham net, West Ham goalkeeper Adrian set off up field to join in the celebrations.

Briefly, he paused as if remembering that this was only the Carabao Cup. But then he was back in full flight. Sometimes, a winning goal is just a bit more important than it looks on paper.

And who knows how important this one may turn out to be for Slaven Bilic? At half-time, the great Croat looked beaten and bowed. The West Ham manager has looked this way for a while now but here at Wembley it looked very bad indeed.

His team had betrayed him in losing 3-0 at home to Brighton in the Premier League last Friday and they had betrayed him again here in the first half.

West Ham’s opening 45 minutes had been truly shameful, lacking any kind of purpose or tangible commitment.

Bilic’s players had shown the very worst of themselves and were fortunate to be only two goals down after a half in which they had played almost no part.

Bilic was on his way out. He had to be. Chalk his name up underneath those of Frank de Boer, Craig Shakespeare and Ronald Koeman, sacked before the clocks have gone back.

But then this game changed in such a way as only a football match can. There was no particular reason for it to happen. Bilic made no changes in personnel at half-time and there was nothing in his team’s tactics or formation that looked greatly different.

But the game changed nonetheless and when it did it was largely attributable to a single moment. This, sometimes, is just how sport works.