FA Youth Cup, 5th Round
              White Hart Lane, Tottenham
             Monday 9th February 2015, 7pm

                SPURS     v  MANCHESTER UNITED
             (White/Blue)      (Red/White)
                4-3-3            4-5-1

                 3(1)             1(1) 

              Harry Voss  1  Dean Henderson
      Kyle Walker-Peters  2  Tyler Reid
            Anton Walkes  3  Cameron Bothwick-Jackson
               Luke Amos  4  Axel Tuanzebe(C)
       Christian Maghoma  5  Ro-Shaun Williams
  Cameron Carter-Vickers  6  Timothy Fosu-Mensah
        Anthony Georgiou  7  Joe Riley
       Zenon Stylianides  8  Devonte Redmond
         Shayon Harrison  9  Marcus Rashford
        Joshua Onomah(C) 10  Callum Gribbin
          Ismail Azzaoui 11  Zach Dearnley

           Charlie Owens 12  Zak Ansah
               (8)81Mins     (9)61Mins
           Thomas Glover 13  George Dorrington
          Marcus Edwards 14  Demetri Mitchell
              (11)72Mins     (11)71Mins
         Kaziah Sterling 15  Rauiri Croskerey
               (9)77Mins
               Ryan Loft 16  Charlie Scott

Scorers:-
       Georgiou 20, 70       Rashford 26
       Azzaoui 61 

Booked:-
Walker-Peters 57(Diving)     Rashford 45(Foul)

Coach:-
       K. McKenna            P. McGuinness

Attendance:- 2408

Referee:– S. Ross
Assistants:– S. Pawley & A. Da Costa
Fourth Official:– W. Norcott

On a cold evening Spurs faced Manchester United in a fifth round Youth Cup tie. Spurs beat Wolves 2-0 in the last round while United beat Hull 3-0. The winners travel to Nottingham Forest in the next round after they beat Burnley 2-0.

Spurs lined up with Voss in goal behind Maghoma and Carter-Vickers with Walker-Peters at right back and Walkes on the left. Amos anchored the midfield with Onomah and Stylianides while Harrison led the line with Georgiou on his right and the returning Azzaoui on the left. It was the Belgian's first game since being injured in the last round after having scored both goals.

Spurs kicked off the first half attacking the Paxton Road end with the visitors dropping deep with five across the midfield and Fosu-Mensah tasked to mark Onomah. It took a while for Spurs to threaten Henderson's goal with the first corner coming after nearly ten minutes. The second came five minutes later when Harrison saw his effort turned wide from Azzaoui's cross for another corner. Georgiou swung this one in for Maghoma to head wide.

Stylianides saw his drive from the edge of the area deflected wide, before Harrison whipped in a low cross which was cleared for a corner. Azzaoui drove the corner low into the near post where Walkes flicked it on to the far post for Georgiou to score.

United scored with their first shot on goal when Onomah conceded a free kick about 25 yards out just right of centre. Rashford stepped up and curled the ball into the right side of the goal.

Spurs continued to press and Azzaoui saw his effort go wide for a corner, whilst Harrison drew a save from the keeper before a United break saw Rashford cross from the right for Riley to volley wide. Rashford, helping out his defence, was booked for a foul on Stylianides as the half ended.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which began with an attack down the right by United but the cross was caught by Voss. Spurs were soon back on the attack with Georgiou having a weak shot from a corner. Riley won a corner before Walker-Peters went down in the area under pressure only to be shown a yellow card by the referee.

Georgiou had an effort blocked and Walkes headed over from a Walker-Peters cross before a break by United ended with Borthwick-Jackson putting the ball in the net only to be ruled offside. Spurs made the most of the reprieve when Maghoma won the ball on the right. He passed it forward to Stylianides who rode a tackle before laying off to Onomah. The captain played a one-two with Georgiou before sweeping the ball out to Azzaoui on the left. The winger cut inside, passing Reid, and lifted the ball over Henderson for Spurs' second goal of the night.

With "The Red Devils" now committing players forward in search of an equaliser Spurs found more space. Henderson beat Maghoma to a high corner but could only push the ball onto the head of Carter-Vickers who headed it over the bar. Harrison had two efforts blocked in quick succession in front of goal, before Reid broke down the right from his own half, drawing a save from Voss.

Spurs got a third goal when Walker-Peters sent Georgiou away down the right. the Spurs winger out-paced Borthwick-Jackson to finish low across Henderson.

United sent on another striker and after Walker-Peters made a strong run, drawing a save from the keeper, Spurs made their first change. Edwards replaced Azzaoui on the right flank with Georgiou moving to the left. He was followed soon after by Sterling replacing Harrison up front and Owens coming on for Stylianides in midfield.

It was Spurs' turn to sit deep looking to break as Sterling drew a save from Henderson having fired wide just before. When a corner was half cleared, Redmond drove the ball in low for Voss to save to his left. Voss also saved from Rashford as the visitors tried to pull a goal back. Sterling saw his effort deflected for a corner before United had the last chance that was driven wide by Mitchell.

This was a good win for Spurs who fielded a strong side with the return of Azzaoui and the pairing of Maghoma and Carter-Vickers at the heart of the defence. Spurs now go to Nottingham Forest for their first quarter-final since they lost to the gooners in 2009. This is likely to be in early March as they still have five Academy matches to play this month.

Ray

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