View: Tottenham Under-18s let themselves down with collapse in 4-3 defeat v Chelsea
Tottenham Under-18s’ winning run came to an end as they gave up a two-goal lead en route to a 4-3 defeat to Chelsea at Hotspur Way in the Under-18 Premier League Cup on Saturday 21 October.
Prior to the meeting with Chelsea, Spurs’ youngsters had won six games in a row following a 4-0 defeat to Aston Villa in their first game of the season.
However, they let themselves down against their London rivals as they wasted some valuable chances and suffered the consequences, demonstarting that they still have a lot of lessons to learn as players and as a team.
In truth, Tottenham should have been out of sight by the end of the first half. In-form Mikey Moore scored once again, giving the hosts the lead after just three minutes. Moore and Damola Ajayi continued to give the visitors problems, yet they couldn’t make them pay.
Moore was denied by the post in the 28th minute, although just one minute later Spurs did double their advantage, as Chelsea shot-stopper Max Merrick fumbled Moore’s cross, allowing Oliver Irow to nod beyond the keeper and into the back of the net.
Chelsea got themselves back into the game just three minutes later with Tottenham making a mess of things as they looked to play out from the back, although Spurs were able to restore their two-goal cushion in the 52nd minute when Yusuf Akhamrich converted Irow’s low cross at the back-post.
From here, however, Tottenham completely fell apart defensively. They were once again caught out trying to play out from the back just minutes after scoring, as goalkeeper Carey Bloedorn’s pass was intercepted by Reis-Alexander Russel-Denny, who drilled home Chelsea’s second.
Shumaira Mhueka levelled the contest ten minutes later and despite Chelsea going down to ten men, they were able to take the lead through Russel-Denny who scored his second of the match to seal a 4-3 win late in the second half.
It leaves Chelsea three points clear at the top of Group E with one game remaining, meaning Spurs will now need to win by a healthy margin against Barnsley next month to stand any chance of qualifying for the knockout stages of the competition they won last season.
After such a positive run, this will be a bitter pill for the Spurs players to swallow, and they will now need to show once again that they can bounce back from defeat.
They will meet with Chelsea again at Cobham on Saturday 28 October in a top-of-the-table clash in the Under-18 Premier League South, where they will look to exact revenge, showcase their ability to recover from defeat and extend their lead at the top of the pile.
In other Tottenham news, the club’s style could play right into the hands of Fulham when they meet in the Premier League on Monday 23 October.