Middlesbrough are through to a semi-final encounter with Arsenal after beating Spurs 5-4 on penalties after a thrilling Carling Cup game finished 1-1 after extra-time.
On a freezing cold evening it did not take long for the game to heat up as Darren Anderton ended Middlesbrough's run of seven clean sheets after just 63 seconds when Colin Cooper failed to clear Stephen Carr's cross and he swept the ball home from just inside the box.
Spurs could have doubled their lead on 19 minutes when Ledley King headed Anderton's in-swinging corner goalwards only to be denied by a superb fingertip save from Mark Schwarzer.
Middlesbrough should have levelled the game on the stroke of half-time when Michael Ricketts missed a golden opportunity.
Ricketts picked up a long throughball from Danny Mills, shrugged off the attentions of Anthony Gardner and rounded Kasey Keller before firing the ball into the side-netting.
The home side were good value for their lead at the break as their slick passing and pressing allowed them the lion's share of the opportunities.
As the game drew to a close and both teams attacked, the game opened up and made for an entertaining finish with Juninho being denied late on by the excellent Keller.
Ricketts ensured the game went into extra time when he pounced on a loose ball in the box and drilled the ball past Keller into the bottom corner.
He could have wrapped things up in injury time with a powerful close-range header only to again be denied by Keller who tipped the ball over.
Second-half substitute Stewart Downing almost sneaked a winner when his volley from the edge of the box was saved superbly by Keller in the dying moments but the game ended a draw only for Boro to eventually clinch success in the shoot-out.