The Double is not beyond Spurs, says Richard Buxton
Even without Kane, Spurs are too good for Leicester and a Double may not be beyond them
THIRD-ROUND REPLAY
LEICESTER 0
TOTTENHAM 2
(Son Heung Min 39, Nacer Chadli 66)
This was not what the brochure had promised.
Tottenham Hotspur were supposed to be the side whose hopes and aspirations would become shattered under the weight of an unhealthy level of reliance on their one-season wonder.
Instead, Mauricio Pochettino's players are the ones who remain unnerved in their upward trajectory; continuing to uncover glimmers of promise that further diminish the burden of responsibility thrust upon Harry Kane's shoulders.
If Spurs are again on their way to Wembley, it will be another pioneering Argentinian who takes them there.
Pochettino's blueprint for success looks set to give Ossie Ardiles' 1981 dream a run for its money if events of yesterday morning (Singapore time) are a reliable barometer.
At a fourth time of asking - the third in 10 days - Tottenham did not just get the better of Leicester City; they also imposed themselves on their hosts with an effortless level of confidence.
They barely broke into a sweat before introducing Kane for Erik Lamela, afforded a front row view of proceedings at the King Power Stadium for the first hour to shore up that comfortable passage into the FA Cup's fourth round.
Even after ringing the changes, eight in total, Spurs' starting line-up possessed the quality in depth capable of taking the fight to the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City at the English Premier League's summit in the coming months.
Pochettino's apprehension to disrupt that current alchemy in his squad with another addition to his front-line ranks is understandable.
Where the likes of Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and goalscorer Son Heung Min operate harmoniously in tandem with Kane, the prospective arrival of Saido Berahino threatens to breed a debilitating level of unrest in a dressing room that teeters on the cusp of greatness.
West Brom's malcontent striker continues to be touted for a move to White Hart Lane but all bets should now be off after Son provided another compelling counter argument.
The South Korean's exquisite first-half strike was not the only supporting evidence in recent weeks that a more organic supplement lies within; Eriksen and Alli before him have highlighted the benefits of sharing the wealth.
Kane, too, is feeling the benefits of that reduced workload.
Conversely, Leicester's one-time fairy tale continues to descend into the stuff of nightmares.
Without the prolificacy of Jamie Vardy, enduring a seventh successive game without a goal, and Riyad Mahrez's similar dip in form, Claudio Ranieri's unlikely lads have seen themselves exposed as blunt and one-dimensional.
The Italian attempted to efface the Foxes' meek exit from the FA Cup in the same way a jilted lover claims he never truly fancied the person who had forsaken him in the first place.
Eight changes to his previous starting 11 appeared to vindicate that stance.
Time may come to remember events differently; potentially as the night a potentially season-defining springboard was willingly surrendered.
History often only remembers the victors but, in the case of the world's oldest cup competition, it also remembers its underdogs.
And for all their accomplishment, plucky remains the current perception of Leicester's left-field assault in this season's EPL title race.
That increasingly outside shot threatens to amount to nothing.
Tottenham, meanwhile, continue to embrace multi-faceted competition with aplomb.
It is for that reason that the long-awaited hopes of a first league and cup Double since the illustrious 1960-61 campaign remain very much alive.
POCHETTINO AIMS FOR GLORY ON ALL FRONTS
Mauricio Pochettino thinks his Tottenham squad have shown they can compete for silverware on all fronts this season after watching his team end Leicester's FA Cup hopes.
A much-changed Spurs side were never really troubled by an equally unfamiliar Foxes line-up as they finally got the better of Claudio Ranieri's men this season at the fourth time of asking - reaching the fourth round with a 2-0 victory yesterday morning (Singapore time).
Having drawn 2-2 in the original tie and with Leicester winning the Premier League meeting in north London last week, Tottenham triumphed in the final part of the 10-day trilogy at the King Power Stadium - the scene of a 1-1 draw in the league in August.
Spurs, fourth in the Premier League and just five points behind leaders Arsenal, will travel to League One strugglers Colchester in the next round at the end of the month before resuming their Europa League challenge against Fiorentina next month.
Pochettino said: "I am very pleased with the performance, it was a fantastic victory against a very good team. We dominated the game from the beginning to the end.
"The FA Cup is an important competition for us and we showed we have a squad that are good enough to compete in every competition.
"We have also the Premier League and Europa League and I think it is very important to keep the squad fit and working hard, and the FA Cup is very important for this.
"I don't like to speak about change. For me, when you have 24 or 25 players, they all work very hard and some players deserve to play and can't - you can only pick 11 and seven on the bench."
With both clubs nicely positioned for a sustained assault on a top-four finish in the league and the lure of the riches on offer for Champions League qualification becoming a more tangible possibility with every passing week, it was clear from the team selections where the priority lay.
Both managers made eight changes from the sides they sent out in the League at the weekend. Leicester boss Ranieri initially swopped nine players but Ritchie De Laet was injured during the warm-up, so Danny Simpson kept his place.
PRIORITY
Asked if his selection showed he was favouring trying to sustain Leicester's surprise league title challenge over a cup run, Ranieri replied: "No. Our priority is this also.
"I want to see all my players - like Pochettino, he also changed a lot of players. But for this reason, I say we fight face to face with Tottenham. Leicester fight for four matches with Tottenham and it is good.
"I am not disappointed with the performance. We played Tottenham four times - won one, lost one and two draws.
"Our journey starts today. I change a lot of players and if we fight very well against this team then I am very pleased with my players.
"When I say our journey starts tonight, it is true because we played at the same level against a big team. Our way is a very good line to follow." - PA Sport.
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