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Courtesy of:- Ray Lo, and the Spurs List.
Premier League 2, Division 1, 2016-17
Hotspur Way, Bulls Cross, Enfield
Friday 18th November 2016, 12 noon
SPURS v ARSENAL
(White/Blue) (Red/White)
4-2-3-1 4-2-3-1
0(0) 2(0)
Pau Lopez 1 Matt Macey
Joseph Muscatt 2 Mathieu Debuchy
Connor Ogilvie 3 Marc Bola
Luke Amos(C) 4 Ismael Bennacer
Christian Maghoma 5 Ben Sheaf
Charlie Owens 6 Krystian Bielik(C)
Kyle Walker-Peters 7 Reiss Nelson
Anton Walkes 8 Gedion Zelalem
Shayon Harrison 9 Stephy Mavididi
Thomas Carroll 10 Kaylen Hinds
Anthony Georgiou 11 Chris Willock
Cy Goddard 12 Chiori Johnson
(3)77Mins (2)69Mins
Thomas Glover 13 Hugo Keto
Joseph Pritchard 14 Vlad Dragohir
(5)85Mins
Shilow Tracey 15 Eddie Nketiah
(2)46Mins
Zenon Stylianides 16 Josh Dasilva
Scorers:-
Debuchy 65
Mavididi pen. 90+1
Booked:-
Ogilvie 24(Late) Bennacer 87(Late)
Owens 51(Foul)
Carroll 62(Holding)
Amos 82(Foul)
Sent Off:-
Owens 67(Last Man)
Coach:-
U. Ehiogu S. Gatting
Referee:– C. Hicks
Assistants:– N. Dunn & A. Parker
Fourth Official:– D. Knox
It was a cold morning for the visit of our nearest rivals to Hotspur Way for the first U-23 NLD of the season. Spurs came into the match having ended a long run of defeats with a draw against Manchester United at this ground while the newly promoted "Gooners" beat Sunderland 4-0 last time out.
This is in fact the first meeting of the two teams at this level since 2013 when the Premier League set up the U-21 League. That season Spurs did the double over today's opponents on the way to finishing top of the league and the "Gunners" were relegated to the second division. The result of the home match that year was 4-2.
Spurs lined up with Lopez making his first appearance behind Owens and Maghoma with Muscatt at right back and the returning Ogilvie on the left. Amos anchored the midfield with Walkes alongside him. Ahead of them was Carroll being given a run out flanked by Walker-Peters on the right and Georgiou on the left in support of Harrison up front. Unusually there was a full bench.
Spurs defended the South end in the first half which saw both sides cancel each other out in midfield. The visitors pressed from the start having the first chance when Hinds' weak header was saved by Lopez. Malvididi had a weak effort also saved before Spurs had their first chance. Carroll played Harrison in for a shot from the left which was saved by Macey at the second attempt. Ogilvie picked up a booking when he went for a 50:50 tackle with Bielik. The Arsenal defender had dived in with both feet to get to the ball first and came off worse(he was close to being subbed). Georgiou won a corner when Macey saved his effort and from the corner Amos fired over. Lopez saved from Nelson and Willock fired wide before Harrison went close just before the break. He collected a corner by Carroll outside the far post on the left but his effort was cleared off the line.
Spurs made one change for the start of the second half with Tracey replacing Muscatt who had been given a hard time by Willock. Tracey started on the right flank with Walker-Peters dropping to right back. The sun came out which made it uncomfortable for Lopez in the Spurs goal as the visitors stepped up a gear to put pressure on the Spurs lines.
Bielik hit over from a free kick and Owens was booked for a foul on the edge of the area when Willock broke forward. Sheaf fired wide from a corner and Willock played in Nelson for a chance that Lopez saved. Carroll was next into the ref's book when Hinds got the better of him. The visitors' pressure finally told when Willock got to the line and crossed for Debuchy coming in at the far post. His shot went in off the woodwork.
With Spurs now having to push forward the "Gooners" looked to pick them off with balls over the top. Owens lost out to Malvididi in a chase for one long ball and pulled him back which saw him sent off as the last defender. Walkes dropped into the back four to replace him.
The Arsenal were able to take off the experienced Debuchy as Lopez saved twice from Willock for corners. The second saw Bola fire wide. Mavididi played in Hinds to fire over while Sheaf hit a free kick over. Spurs' second change saw Goddard come on for Ogilvie in a midfield role that meant Georgiou filling in at left back. Amos was then booked for a foul on Bennacer before dropping into the back four when Maghoma was replaced by Pritchard.
Amos was on the end of a bad tackle by Bennacer following a corner that saw the"Gooners" only booking of the game.
Unfortunately for the Spurs captain it was his tackle that gave Arsenal the penalty that wrapped up the points when he brought down Hinds in the area. Mavididi stepped up to send Lopez the wrong way from the spot. With the visitors now pushing for more goals, Spurs found space behind with Harrison running onto a Carroll through ball only to check back allowing defenders to tackle. Pritchard then sent Tracey away but the Spurs man delayed before firing wide from a tight angle. With the last chance of the game a short corner was put into the goalmouth by Goddard for Tracey, but his effort was saved.
Spurs were second best in the second half having held their own in the first. An unlucky break of the ball saw the "Gooners" take the lead and any hope of a response went with Owens' red card. Spurs have only managed one point from their last seven games and are now bottom of the league in danger of being relegated. It was particularly hard on Amos who was Spurs' best player today. With most of the players travelling to Monaco on Tuesday in search of a win to keep their Champions Youth League hopes alive it has been a bad season so far. The next game is a tough one away to Sunderland on the 28th. While the "Mackems"'current form is not much better than Spurs they have not lost to Spurs at the Hetton Centre.
Ray
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