‘The FA Cup is magic’: third-tier Rochdale stun Tottenham Hotspur to force fifth-round Wembley replay

Lowly Rochdale scored deep into stoppage time to deny Tottenham Hotspur victory as their FA Cup fifth-round tie ended in a thrilling 2-2 draw on Sunday.

It seemed Spurs had done enough to book their place in the quarter-finals when in-form England striker Harry Kane, on as a substitute, scored from the penalty spot with two minutes of normal time remaining to make it 2-1 to the visitors.

But Rochdale, who had opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time through Ian Henderson, equalised when substitute Steve Davies scored from 12 yards in the third minute of stoppage time.

The result means Rochdale, bottom of third-tier League One, can now look forward to a lucrative replay at Wembley – the national stadium is London club Tottenham’s temporary home while their successor ground to White Hart Lane is completed.

“They say it’s every kid’s dream (to play at Wembley) and we have done enough to go there,” Davies told the BBC, before saying of his equaliser: “I’ve done my job, it’s dropped to me and I’ve finished it.”

Rochdale went ahead when Henderson crowned a slick move that made a mockery of the club’s league position with a composed finish after an excellent angled through-ball from Andrew Cannon split Spurs’ defence.