Premier League 2, Divison 1. 2016-17
         Hotspur Way, Bulls Cross, Enfield
           Friday 6th January 2017, 1pm

             SPURS     v     CHELSEA
          (White/Blue)      (All Blue)
             4-4-2           4-2-3-1

              2(1)             2(1)

            Pau Lopez  1  Bradley Collins
   Kyle Walker-Peters  2  Dujon Sterling
       Connor Ogilvie  3  Fikayo Tomori(C)
         Luke Amos(C)  4  Trevoh Chalobah
    Christian Maghoma  5  Fankaty Dabo
         Anton Walkes  6  Ruben Sammut
     Joseph Pritchard  7  Charlie Wakefield
    Zenon Stylianides  8  Mukhtar Ali
      Shayon Harrison  9  Ike Ugbo
        Shilow Tracey 10  Dominic Solanke
         Nathan Oduwa 11  Mason Mount

       Joseph Muscatt 12  Isaac Christie-Davies
            (3)78Mins     (10)72Mins
        Thomas Glover 13  Jared Thompson
        Charlie Owens 14  Joseph Colley
            (7)63Mins
           Cy Goddard 15  Harvey St.Clair
           (11)84Mins     (7)76Mins
                      16  Jacob Maddox
                          (6)65Mins

Scorers:-
         Harrison 39      Mount 5
          Ogilvie 58      Solanke 54

Coach:- 
           U. Ehiogo      A. Viveash

Referee:– W. Barratt
Assistants:– R. Watson & J. Burridge
Fourth Official:– A. Rayment

It was a sunny if cold afternoon for Spurs U-23 side's return to league action after the Christmas break. The visitors were high flying Chelsea on a seven game unbeaten run having beaten Manchester United 3-1 in their last match. Spurs had beaten Derby County 2-0 in their last match to move off the bottom of the table. Last season Chelsea won 5-4 at Stevenage thanks to an added time winner after Spurs had come back from 2-4 down, thanks to a late brace from Townsend before he moved to Newcastle.

Spurs lined up with Lopez in goal behind Maghoma and Walkes with Walker-Peters at right back and Ogilvie on the left. Amos anchored the midfield with Stylianides alongside him and Pritchard on the right flank and Oduwa on the left side. Tracey partnered Harrison up front. Interestingly Chelsea changed their formation from the usual 3-4-3.

Spurs defended the South end in the first half which saw Chelsea press high early on to upset Spurs' rythym. Mount had an effort fly over before the visitors took the lead. It came from a long ball down the middle which turned Walkes who handled the ball as he retreated quickly. Mount scored from the free kick curling it into the far corner.

Most of the first half was played in the middle third as both midfields sought to gain control but had problems stringing more than a couple of passes together. The main difference between the two sides was the pace of the Chelsea attacks when they got the ball ,but the Spurs defence coped well. Solanke headed wide from a corner before a good run and shot by Pritchard was deflected for a corner.

Another break by Chelsea saw Solanke play in Mount, but Lopez had no problem as his effort was half-blocked. Ugbo did put the ball in the net from a ball by Mount but it was ruled out for offside. Oduwa was beginning to make an impression on the left and crossed for Pritchard to fire over with a first time half-volley. Oduwa was caught from behind as he got into the area but the referee turned down his penalty appeal.

The referee did give a free kick when Ali caught him some twenty yards out, but Pritchard hit his kick wide. Oduwa was involved in Spurs' equaliser when after good work on the left his cross was headed into the far side of the net by Harrison. Harrison had a free kick saved by Collins a few minutes later after another foul on Oduwa so that the sides went in level at half time.

Neither side made changes for the second half which saw Spurs continue to play as they finished the first half while Chelsea moved their players around. This saw Solanke pop up on the left when the ball was played in from the right by Ali for Solanke to score across Lopez into the far side. The lead did not last long as Ogilvie attacked the near post at a right side corner by Pritchard to head into the far side of the goal.

Spurs replaced Pritchard with Owens, moving Stylianides out to the right while Chelsea made three changes in quick succession. Ugbo had a diving headed saved by Lopez at the near post. After Harrison was fouled on the edge of the area the striker took the kick himself, curling it just wide of the near post.

Spurs' second change was for Muscatt to replace Ogilvie at left back. Christie-Davies fired wide before another foul on Harrison gave Oduwa a chance from the free kick. The wideman had just got up after suffering from Cramp and hit his kick over the wall dipping under the bar. Collins was equal to the kick pushing it over for a corner. That was Oduwa's last contribution as he was replaced by Goddard for the last ten minutes. In the final minutes the visitors pushed for a winner with Ugbo firing wide and Chalobah heading wide from a corner but Spurs held out for a deserved point.

This was a well-contested game with both sides seeking to play attacking football. The point still leaves Spurs in the drop zone but with the same number of points as Leicester City and two behind Reading and Manchester United. Next Friday Spurs travel to second placed Manchester City who face United on the Monday before so hopefully they will not be at full strength.

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