Tottenham Hotspur vs. Hull City: Final score 2-2, Spurs advance on penalties

It wasn't pretty, but all wins count the same. We've said that a lot this season, haven't we? Tottenham Hotspur are through in the League Cup, thanks to Harry Kane and a penalty shootout victory.

Spurs were let off the hook early by Danny Graham, who should have scored in the 4th minute. He was played clear through on goal, but missed the target by a mile. Hull were made to pay for that 12 minutes later, when Gylfi Sigurdsson scored one of the best goals of his career. He took a brilliant turn and shot from 25 yards, smoking a shot that Eldin Jakupovic had no chance to save.

In the 34th minute, Hull were forced into a change through injury. Defender Alex Bruce exited for forward Nick Proschwitz, forcing Hull to switch from a back three into a back four. Spurs had the upper hand for the rest of the half, but never extended their lead, though Hull offered nothing going forward.

Things changed early in the second half, which was dominated by the Tigers. Hull's equalizer came in the 53rd minute on an own goal by Brad Friedel, but the veteran goalkeeper was hardly at fault. Some terrible defending allowed Curtis Davies to get on the end of a cross by Ahmed Elmohamady, but he missed the open net by a mile. Instead, he kicked the ball into the bewildered Friedel, who couldn't handle.

The remainder of the half was defined by injuries. Kyle Naughton came off with a knock in the 68th minute and Nacer Chadli had to come off injured just 10 minutes after he was substituted into the game.

Despite their poor performance throughout the second half Spurs had a couple of chances to win late in regular time and were unlucky not to score. Erik Lamela had a free kick saved in the 78th minute and Harry Kane hit the post just before the referee blew to signal the end of the half.

Spurs' famous set piece defense struck in the 8th minute of extra time, as Paul McShane took advantage of some shoddy marking to get on the end of a ball to the center of the box and hit a rocket header past Friedel. Spurs looked like they'd be making a disappointing exit until three minutes into the second extra time period, when Kane struck in impressive fashion. He skipped around a couple of defenders on the edge of the penalty box and placed a perfect low shot into the far corner from 15 yards, tying up the game and eventually forcing penalty kicks.

The ensuing shootout was a long one, featuring just three misses in total through nine rounds. Aaron McLean missed Hull's first to set Spurs up nicely, but Lamela missed his effort with Spurs' fourth take to extend the shootout. It went on until Kyle Walker buried on Spurs' ninth attempt, forcing his counterpart into a must-make situation. Elmohamady, the Hull right back, couldn't match him as Spurs took the shootout, 8-7.

Spurs will host West Ham in the League Cup quarterfinals.