Jermain Defoe of Tottenham Hotspur scored a hat-trick at Elland Road to help Harry Redknapp’s side overcome Leeds and book a place in the FA Cup fifth round with a 3-1 win on Wednesday.

England striker Defoe missed a host of good chances but still managed to come up trumps for the Premier League side with strikes in the 37th and 73rd minutes before putting the result beyond all doubt in the fourth minute of stoppage time to take his tally for the season to 22 goals.

Luciano Becchio had equalised for Leeds on the stroke of half-time as Simon Grayson’s League One side threatened to pull off another shock in front of a partisan home crowd.

But Defoe secured a trip for Tottenham to top-flight rivals Bolton in the last 16 and kill-off the Cup dreams of Leeds, who had knocked Manchester United at Old Trafford out of the competition in stunning style in the previous round.

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Rafael Benitez felt his much-changed Liverpool team were rewarded for their hard work after beating Leeds 1-0 in the Carling Cup on Tuesday.

The Premier League giants were given a scare by the League One leaders at an electric Elland Road before eventually settling the third-round tie with a second-half David Ngog goal.

Leeds had a first-half goal disallowed and spurned a number of other opportunities before Ngog netted against the run of play with 65 minutes gone.

Yet Benitez, after making nine changes, brushed off suggestions that his team had ridden their luck.

The Spaniard said: “We worked hard and I feel we had our chances.

“We won with a lot of players not playing and I am really pleased with my team, with the squad.

“These kind of games are very important to keep the quality of character. I think it was a fantastic win for us.

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