“He had to go!” Jose Mourinho explains Eric Dier’s mid-match tunnel dash during Carabao Cup win

Midway through the second half of Tottenham Hotspur’s penalty shootout win over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, Eric Dier suddenly took off and dashed straight down the Tottenham tunnel. He was followed shortly afterwards by Jose Mourinho, which is when those watching started to figure out what was going on.

It turns out that there was nothing wrong — well, nothing seriously wrong, anyway — Dier apparently had to use the, um, facilities and his manager followed to make sure he got back safely, and quickly!

Afterwards, Mourinho was asked about what happened and Mourinho was forthright about Dier’s little trip, though thankfully he wasn’t too explicit.

“He had to go! No other chance, he had to go. [Spurs’ medical staff] can explain better than me, maybe it’s a normal thing when you’re completely dehydrated, when you have nothing in your muscles, which was the case.

“I knew that he had to go, but I was just trying to put some pressure on him to get him back for the remaining time!”

Naturally, jokes abounded on social media, including yours truly.

I woudn’t say it’s common, but it’s certainly not unusual for players to just have a wee on the pitch in the middle of the game. Most of the time fans don’t even notice at the time. DaMarcus Beasley did it once. At the World Cup, no less! Against Mexico!

Even Gary Lineker, former Spurs striker, Match of the Day host, and notorious on-pitch pants crapper, got in on the fun. At least Dier made it to the bathroom.

Dier had a great game against Chelsea and didn’t let his bout of... uh, Dierrhea affect his performance. He also converted the first of five penalties in the shootout to help win the match for Spurs, and afterwards was the first person to console Chelsea’s Mason Mount, which made everyone hope he had time to wash his hands first.

Dier also had a little fun at his own expense on Instagram after the match.

Eric appeared to have left everything on the pitch after that game (except for, y’know). Mourinho said that, after playing tonight and also Sunday against Newcastle, that Dier would be sitting out Thursday’s critical Europa League qualifying playoff match against Maccabi Haifa.

“He was a great example for everybody, playing [today and Sunday]. Of course, if the football authorities don’t care about players, I care. So of course, Eric Dier cannot play the match on Thursday [vs. Maccabi Haifa]”