DAZZLING PAL IS HEAD OVER HEELS TO WIN

IT took a bit of Portuguese magic to light up the start of Tottenham's Carabao Cup journey as they edged past League One side Doncaster Rovers.

- BY ALASDAIR GOLD

Spurs reached the semifinals of this competition last season and with Thomas Frank looking to compete across all fronts this time around, they took the first steps on that mission with a victory against a stubborn visiting side.

The game was won with an acrobatic strike from Joao Palhinha and an own goal from Doncaster defender Jay McGrath (inset), with Brennan Johnson adding late on.

With a tough fixture schedule, Frank had made seven changes to the team that came back to draw 2-2 at Brighton on Saturday.

Palhinha, Rodrigo Bentancur, Wilson Odobert and Pedro Porro were the only survivors, with Cristian Romero and Mohammed Kudus rested from the squad entirely.