Lucas Moura and Harry Kane help Tottenham rally and sink Morecambe

The reaction of Harry Winks said it all. The Tottenham midfielder had bent a free-kick from wide on the left towards the far post, more in the hope that a teammate could touch it home, only for it to drift over the Morecambe goalkeeper, Trevor Carson, and fly in.

Winks looked to the heavens in relief and was barely able to muster a smile. It was the 74th minute and he and Spurs knew they would be spared an FA Cup upset at the hands of the League One strugglers Morecambe. The victors’ reward is a home tie against Brighton.

It was not a day for celebrations because, until Antonio Conte had called for the cavalry and introduced Harry Kane, Lucas Moura and Oliver Skipp as 69th-minute substitutes, it had been a grind. Worse, the fringe players to whom the Spurs manager had turned at the outset were laboured, particularly during a dismal first-half performance as Morecambe deservedly led through their captain, Anthony O’Connor, who was excellent.

Conte could be disappointed with the understudies, particularly Tanguy Ndombele, Dele Alli and Bryan Gil – all of whom he took off in that first set of changes – and only then did his team break Morecambe’s resistance. Ndombele bore the brunt of the home crowd’s frustration when he sauntered off at low speed, having had a day when nothing went his way.

Alli worked Carson with a clever flick from a corner on 55 minutes but, that apart, he could get little going and it has already been widely reported that Spurs would be open to moving him on this month. Whither the one-time Spurs golden boy?

Morecambe ran on fumes in the closing stages and only the hardest of hearts would have felt no sympathy for Ryan McLaughlin, who was guilty of a terrible lapse that allowed Moura away to make the score 2-1. The Morecambe defender dwelt in possession on halfway and, once Moura had robbed him, there was an inevitability about the run and finish. A distraught McLaughlin was barely able to chase back. Like everybody in red, he had nothing left to give.

Kane put a gloss on the scoreline at the end, taking a pass from Giovani Lo Celso, spinning and guiding expertly into the far corner, and Morecambe had to be content with having done themselves and the club proud.

Their commitment and organisation were a feature of the tie, O’Connor setting the tone when he went through Gil in the eighth minute; the centre-back was fortunate to escape a yellow card.

McLaughlin had wobbled in the first minute, miscontrolling to allow Ndombele in – the Spurs midfielder would be successfully closed down – and, from the corner, Ben Davies flashed a header just over. But Spurs lacked tempo and incision during the first half; their passing sloppy and predictable. Morecambe grew in belief, measuring their progress in tackles, blocks, a nutmeg on Gil and flickers in the final third. They could feel that there was nothing to be frightened about.

Conte’s changes were playing to impress him and show that they have a future under him at the club and it has to be said that is debatable. Joe Rodon was also poor although to single him out in a defence that lacked assurance is perhaps unfair.

It was no surprise when Morecambe went ahead. Rodon had left a back-pass a little short in the 12th minute only for Pierluigi Gollini to get out and clear ahead of Cole Stockton. Now Rodon waited for the goalkeeper as he tried to deal with a long ball ahead of Stockton and, when Gollini did not come, he was forced to concede the corner. Alfie McCalmont, the Leeds loanee, took it and O’Connor ran around the unconvincing Japhet Tanganga to sidefoot home on the volley.

Conte had started in the 3-5-2 system that many fans want to see but, with Kane on the bench and Son Heung-min injured, it shone a light on one of the imbalances in the squad that the manager played two false 9s – Alli and Gil.

Spurs offered little as an attacking force before the interval. Matt Doherty hit the outside of a post from a tight angle following a corner and Lo Celso had a shot blocked after a good run by Ryan Sessegnon but that was about it. Apart from Winks, who tried to inject urgency in front of the back three, Spurs lacked spark.

Alli had his moment early in the second half, Sessegnon dragged wide when he should have done better, Lo Celso saw a shot blocked by O’Connor and Conte knew he had to act.

Spurs belatedly had a bit of conviction, even if the equaliser was soft from a Morecambe perspective. At that point, the shock felt off and it became more about when Spurs would find the winner as they took up residence in the Morecambe half.

Kane blew an easy header and Lo Celso was denied by Carson before Moura punished McLaughlin and Kane profited after another substitute, Emerson Royal, had robbed Greg Leigh close to the byline.