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Tottenham Hotspur booked an FA Cup semi-final place with a 6-0 thrashing of third-tier London rivals Millwall on Sunday but an injury to Harry Kane marred the party as they marked their last tie at their current White Hart Lane stadium.
England international Kane, the Premier League's joint top-scorer, had to hobble off after falling awkwardly and suffering an ankle injury in a sixth-minute challenge with defender Jake Cooper during their sixth round tie.
Yet his absence was not missed on the day as Spurs' South Korean striker Son Heung-min netted a brilliant hat-trick and Kane's replacement Christian Eriksen also scored a beauty before Dele Alli and substitute Vincent Janssen got in on the act.
It all made for an emotional occasion at Spurs' storied 118-year-old ground which they will leave for a season at the end of the campaign before returning to a new stadium at the site.
Kane has scored 19 times and set up four more in just 22 Premier League games this season.
With 11 games left in the league season, Spurs are second on goal difference with Manchester City, but they are 10 points behind leaders Chelsea and they have teams like Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United all seeking a top-four finish to earn Champions League football next season.
"It looks like last time against Sunderland, it was the same ankle," manager Mauricio Pochettino told BBC Sport. "We need to assess some more and after Monday we will see."
The previous injury, sustained against Sunderland in September 2016, resulted in Kane missing five league games and two League Cup matches.
Kane has been critical to the soaring fortunes of Spurs this season, especially having scored eight goals in his previous four games before the FA Cup tie.
His plight brought sympathy from his team mate Dele Alli, who told the BBC: "It is always horrible to lose a player like Harry....We wish him a speedy recovery."
Son the key to Spurs win
Third-tier side Millwall had beaten three top-flight teams en route to the quarter-finals but Spurs dominated them from the outset at the grand old ground where they have not lost all season.
Eriksen made the key breakthrough with a brilliant snap shot on the turn on the half-hour mark before Son crashed home a thunderous left-foot strike 10 minutes later.
The Korean then struck a sweet first-time, right-foot volley from Kieran Trippier's through ball in the 54th before Alli netted his 16th of the season in all competitions, a tap-in after a well-crafted move, in the 72nd.
Janssen scored in the 79th minute and Son's third came in stoppage time, a volley that slipped through the clutches of hapless Millwall keeper Tom King.
"A hat-trick from Son and Janssen scored... the team was good. We need to congratulate them, they were waiting for the opportunity and they took it and stepped up," said Pochettino.
"In football you always need to be ready. Not only him (Janssen) but different players too will have the opportunity to play more and they need to be ready."
The array of glorious goals, particularly from man-of-the-match Son and Eriksen, was a fitting way for Spurs to say farewell to Cup competition at the old White Hart Lane.
The semi-final will be at Wembley Stadium, where they plan to play home games next term before moving into a new 800 million pounds ($1.29 billion), 61,000-seat stadium next door to the current ground in 2018-19.
They will be joined in the highest-quality of last four draws by Arsenal and Manchester City, who won their quarter-finals on Saturday, and Chelsea or Manchester United, who meet in the remaining sixth round tie at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday (AEDT).
Liverpool scrape win over Burnley
Liverpool kept their push for a top-four finish in the Premier League on course as Emre Can thundered home a second-half winner to complete a hard-earned 2-1 comeback win over Burnley at Anfield.
While nowhere near their scintillating best, the Reds displayed real character to strike back after going behind to an Ashley Barnes goal after seven minutes.
With the league's worst travellers Burnley dreaming of their first away win of the season, the out-of-sorts Reds were grateful to equalise just before half-time through their first shot on target from Georginio Wijnaldum.
Liverpool looked short of ideas before German international Can produced what Klopp called a "wonderful" goal from seemingly nowhere just after the hour mark, bending his low 25-metre strike into the bottom corner past a despairing Tom Heaton.
The victory gives Liverpool 55 points, a point behind second-placed Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City in third and 11 adrift of leaders Chelsea.
The top three all have a game in hand over the Reds, who now lead fifth-placed Arsenal by five points albeit having played two games more than Arsene Wenger's side.
Reuters / ABC
Topics: sport, soccer, english-premier, england
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