Tottenham U18s respond to opening day defeat with North London derby delight
There are few better ways to respond to an opening day defeat than to go and hit your noisy neighbours for four, and that is exactly what the Tottenham Under-18s did.
It was a bitterly disappointing opening to the Premier League Under-18 campaign for Tottenham as they were beaten on the road by Aston Villa 4-0. Two weeks had passed since that thrashing before their trip to Arsenal, as Spurs’ youngsters were made to wait for their opportunity to respond.
And it seemed as if the time off worked a treat, as the academy prospects made the short trip and put four past Arsenal, running out 4-2 winners in the North London derby on Saturday 26 August.
Bragging rights.
What made the result particularly impressive was that Spurs were up by four goals before the Gunners responded with two consolation strikes of their own. And while the fact that they weren’t able to keep a clean sheet will be slightly frustrating, it is still a win worth shouting about.
Stuart Lewis’ side also hit the woodwork on three separate occasions in addition to the four goals, and the scoreline could have represented that of a cricket match had it been for some more accurate finishing at London Colney.
It was an own goal that put the visitors ahead inside the 25th minute. Mikey Moore played a quick free-kick to Tyrese Hall who saw his cross turned in by Arsenal defender Maldini Kacurri.
Defender James Rowswell headed in Yusuf Akhamrich’s corner four minutes before the break to give Spurs a 2-0 lead at half-time. Moments after the restart Carey Bloedorn made a fine save to deny Michal Rosiak from dragging Arsenal back into the contest and this save paid dividends in the 51st minute when Moore put the contest to bed, finishing off a great team move with his left foot to make it 3-0.
Five minutes later, Han Willhoft-King made a great tackle which began another impressive passage of play that ended with Callum Olusesi slipping in Akhamrich to make it four.
Osman Kamara tucked away Seb Ferdinand’s cross at the far post to make it 4-1 and offer the hosts a lifeline just before the hour mark. With 10 minutes to play, the provider turned goalscorer for Arsenal when Ferdinand converted a penalty after Leo Black took down Kamara in the box.
However, those strikes proved to be nothing more than consolations as Tottenham got off the mark in the Under-18 Premier League, and long may their form continue.
In other Tottenham news, Spurs Scout has had a look at whether or not Brennan Johnson would be a good signing for the club.