Andre Villas- Boas’s Tottenham Hotspur needed a penalty shootout to see off Hull City. They will play London rivals West Ham in the quarter-finals of the League Cup.

From the moment Gylfi Sigurdsson opened the scoring for the home side, 16 minutes into this enjoyable encounter at White Hart Lane, the result of this match should never have been in any doubt.

However, Hull dug in, pulled level in the second half before taking the hosts into injury time and nearly holding on after taking the lead. Spurs took the game to penalties before Hull’s Ahmed Elmohamady missed the crucial kick.

Sigurdsson’s goal was sublime, with the midfielder’s technique faultless. He collected a pass on the edge of the penalty area from defender Kyle Naughton, turning swiftly in the process to create space, before launching a stunning shot beyond Hull goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic. It flew in off the underside of the crossbar.

Villas-Boas, critical of his club’s fans of late for what he perceived was a lack of vocal support during matches, leapt from his seat to applaud the effort. It seemed that this was going to be a far less nervy occasion than four days previous, when it took a contentious late penalty kick to secure the league victory against Hull.

This was a much-changed Spurs line-up to the one that beat Steve Bruce’s men. However, the performance from the home side was full of purpose in a good first half. Sigurdsson shone, but the collective team display was positive.

Hull looked far less convincing than they did during the league match. Danny Graham led the line, and for the first 30 minutes, the Hull striker struggled. Eventually, Bruce relented, bringing on German striker Nick Proschwitz to prop up the forward line.

Hull’s best chance of the first half came on 34 minutes when Elmohamady tested goalkeeper Brad Friedel with a furious shot. The American reacted well to save the effort.

Bruce replaced Graham with Aaron McLean for the second half. The striker nearly made an immediate impact with a shot moments after the match resumed. It flew just wide.

However, Hull were back in the match on 53 minutes. After a period of pressure from Hull, Elmohamady broke through Spurs’ back-line. He delivered a low cross to an unmarked Curtis Davies. The Hull defender slid in, deflecting the ball goalwards. Friedel blocked the effort, which looked to be going wide, but in failing to hold onto the ball, inadvertently diverted it into the goal.

With their confidence boosted, Hull’s players set about going for the victory. They had chances come their way. However, Spurs substitute Harry Kane nearly won the match for his side with a shot in injury time that struck the crossbar. The match would go into extra time.

Nine minutes into it, Paul McShane put his side ahead when he ghosted in unmarked on a corner kick. His firm header flew past Friedel before the goalkeeper had a chance to react. However, Spurs pulled level soon after through young midfielder Kane.

They completed the victory on penalties after Elmohamady missed the crucial kick.