6 Things We Learned from Tottenham's FA Cup Victory over Coventry

On Saturday, Tottenham cruised to a 3-0 victory over Coventry City in the third round of the FA Cup.

Clint Dempsey and Gareth Bale stole the show at White Hart Lane with dominant performances that included two goals for Dempsey and one for Bale.

Spurs were dominant for most of the match, with the victory being locked up in the 37th minute after Dempsey's second goal.

Here are six things we learned from Tottenham's victory that put them into the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Gareth Bale and Clint Dempsey Are a Lethal Combination

The two best players on the pitch during Saturday's match were Gareth Bale and Clint Dempsey.

Bale and Dempsey ran circles around the Coventry defense and were able to net a combined three goals in the match. 

On the first Spurs goal, the two combined brilliantly off of a Gylfi Sigurdsson free kick, where Bale flicked the ball on to Dempsey, who was the first goal scorer on Saturday. 

The second goal saw the two combine again as Bale volleyed home a deflected shot by Dempsey into the back of the net. 

Dempsey was the only one of the two that played a part in the club's third goal as he headed home a Sigurdsson corner in the 37th minute, 

Set Pieces Played a Big Part in the First Half

Tottenham scored three goals in the first half, and two of them came off of set pieces.

The first goal of the match came in the 14th minute when Clint Dempsey scored off of a free kick taken by Gylfi Sigurdsson. 

The third goal of the match also came off of a Sigurdsson set piece, this one was a corner kick. 

Dempsey was able to head home the corner kick, a goal which sealed the victory for the North London outfit. 

Tottenham Took Their Foot off of the Gas in Second Half

After Dempsey scored the third goal for Spurs in the 37th minute, Tottenham had all but sealed their place in the FA Cup fourth round. 

While both Bale and Dempsey kept charging forward with hopes of adding to the scoresheet once again, most of the Spurs players became complacent with their three-goal lead. 

For the final five minutes of the first half, Coventry tested the Spurs defense with a few moves into the penalty area, something that did not happen for the first 40 minutes of the match. 

Spurs could have easily scored a few goals in the second half, but they failed to find the back of the net after the 37th minute and gave their visitors a sense of false hope to come back in the second half. 

While they were never in danger of losing the match, Spurs could have easily won Saturday's match by five or six goals if they played with the same pace that they did in the first 40 minutes. 

Tottenham Have Plenty of Depth

On Saturday, manager Andre Villas-Boas was able to rest first-team regulars Sandro, Jan Vertonghen, Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe. 

In place of the four starters, AVB was able to give Scott Parker and Benoit Assou-Ekotto their first starts since returning from injury.

Also in the starting 11 was Gylfi Sigurdsson, who has spent most of the past month on Spurs bench behind Lennon.

Sigurdsson played a part in two Spurs goals, while Parker and Assou-Ekotto had solid performances out on the pitch as they continue their recoveries from the long-term injuries that kept them out for the first half of the season.

With quality players not only in the starting 11, but on the bench as well, Spurs could do plenty of damage during the second half of the season. 

Emmanuel Adebayor Did Not Have a Good Game

Emmanuel Adebayor was put in the starting 11 by AVB as the lone forward with Dempsey sitting behind him in a makeshift 4-4-2. 

This was an opportunity for Adebayor to prove to his manager that he could play up front by himself, instead the Togo international did the complete opposite. 

Adebayor's difficulties started in the 36th minute when he could not control a pass from Tom Huddlestone that would have set up a goal scoring opportunity. 

The forward's performance did not improve much during the second half, and it was highlighted by his total miss of a header in the 86th minute that could have produced a fourth goal for Spurs.

AVB Seems Set on Keeping the 4-4-2 Formation

Going into this season, Villas-Boas was expected to line Spurs up in his signature 4-2-3-1 formation, and he did until about a month ago. 

On Saturday, AVB decided to replace Jermain Defoe with Clint Dempsey in the 4-4-2 alongside Emmanuel Adebayor, and it worked to perfection with the American scoring twice. 

With the 4-4-2 working against Coventry, do not look for AVB to go back to the 4-2-3-1 at any time in the near future. 

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