Premier League 2, 2016-17
        White Hart Lane, Tottenham, N17
         Friday 24th October 2016, 7pm

          SPURS     v   MANCHESTER CITY
       (White/Blue)      (All Black)
         4-2-3-1           4-2-3-1

           1(0)              2(1) 

    Alfie Whiteman  1  Billy O'Brien(C)
Kyle Walker-Peters  2  Demeaco Duhaney
    Joseph Muscatt  3  Cameron Humphreys
      Luke Amos(C)  4  Charlie Oliver
      Anton Walkes  5  James Horsfield
     Charlie Owens  6  Sadou Diallo
     Shilow Tracey  7  Aaron Nemane
  Joseph Pritchard  8  Rodney Kongolo
         Ryan Loft  9  Brahim Diaz
    Marcus Edwards 10  Paolo Fernandes
  Anthony Georgiou 11  Javairo Dilrosun

   Shayon Harrison 12  Erik Sarmiento
         (3)60Mins
    Brandon Austin 13  Daniel Grimshaw
 Christian Maghoma 14  Marcus Wood
                       (4)66Mins
        Cy Goddard 15  Jacob Davenport
         (8)75Mins     (14)73Mins
 Zenon Stylianides 16  Will Patching
         (4)56Mins     (6)56Mins

Scorers:-
 Harrison (pen)81      Dilrosun 5
                       Fernandes 54

Booked:- 
  Muscatt 31(Late)     Horsfield 33(10 Yds)
                       Kongolo 39(Foul)

Sent Off:-
     Loft 23(Late)

Coach:-
         U. Ehiogu     S. Davies

Attendance:– 1404

Referee:– N. Hair
Assistants:– C. Wicks & A. Anastasiou
Fourth Official:– N. Mackenzie

It was a cool drizzly evening for the return to league action for the U-23's as they entertained third placed Manchester City at White Hart Lane. While Spurs had lost their last three games the City side were unbeaten although they only had one win out of their last three games. Last season the teams played a 2-2 draw at Hotspur Way.

Spurs lined up with Whiteman behind Walkes and Owens with Walker-Peters at right back and Muscatt on the left. Amos anchored the midfield with Pritchard while Edwards was ahead of them flanked by Tracey on the right and Georgiou on the left in support of Loft up front. Harrison and Maghoma were on the bench with Tuesday in mind. (Ed:- Harrison is returning from injury but Spurs will be playing their Champions Youth League game in Germany against Bayer Leverkusen)

Spurs defended the Park Lane in the first half which saw high pressing from the visitors from the start as they tried to unsettle the Spurs defence. The pressure paid off when Pritchard lost the ball on the half-way line. City were able to attack swiftly with Dilrosun scoring at the far post. Spurs responded with a ball through the middle for Loft which was collected by O'Brien unconvincingly.

Dilrosun fired over from the left before Edwards played a one-two with Loft before hitting a shot that was saved. Loft fired wide as Spurs began to test the visitors' defence. Georgiou was doing well down the left and Tracey with Walker-Peters worked the right. Fernandes drew a save from Whiteman before Spurs suffered a bitter blow when Loft was shown a straight red by the referee. Loft had caught Kongolo late in a 50:50 challenge which the ref deemed dangerous. Spurs moved Tracey up front and actually seemed to play better.

Edwards had a chance blocked before playing in Pritchard for a drive that went wide. Muscatt was booked for a late tackle on Dilrosun while Horsfield joined him minutes later for not retreating ten yards after fouling Walker-Peters. City were now looking shaky at the back as Spurs pushed forward with Edwards firing wide. Kongolo was booked trying to stop Georgiou getting past him. Walker-Peters got to the line and pulled the ball back for Georgiou. The ball was deflected behind the winger who hit it on the turn and saw it come back off the underside of the crossbar.

City counter-attacked and Muscatt was penalised for a foul on Duhaney on the edge of the area to concede a penalty. Fernandes stepped up and hit the spot kick to Whiteman's right, but the Spurs keeper guessed right and saved it. The last chance of the half went to Duhaney who tried his luck from distance but was wide.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which continued in the same vein as the first. Both sides sought to attack but the visitors were sitting a little deeper knowing that Spurs had to come at them. City got a second goal when they countered a Spurs attack catching them light at the back. Diaz got down the right and pulled the ball back for Fernandes who hit a fierce volley from the edge of the area which flew into the net.

Both sides made a change in midfield. Spurs replaced Amos with Stylianides and shortly after took off Muscatt for Harrison. Georgiou dropped to left back with Harrison starting on the left before moving more central when Tracey switched to the left. Harrison had an early chance when he fired over from a corner by Edwards. Kongolo fired over before Spurs made their last change with Goddard replacing Pritchard in central midfield.

The referee gave his second penalty in the game, this time to Spurs when Georgiou got round the back and was fouled by Horsfield. Harrison stepped up and placed his kick inside the right post beating the keeper's dive. Fernandes fired over before Harrison drew a save from O'Brien when he got his head on an Edwards corner. In added time Harrison had another chance, this time from a cross by Georgiou, but he put his effort over the bar.

So, this was yet another defeat for the Spurs youngsters, but they went down fighting. The margin of defeat was the width of the crossbar in the end as they matched City while playing a man short for most of the game. The red card seemed harsh from our view but the referee must have seen something from his point of view. Georgiou and Walker-Peters had good games with Edwards' dribbling skills again on show. Walkes and Owens did not have as much pressure put on them as you would expect.

Spurs travel to Leicester City in ten days time at the King Power stadium.The "Foxes" held Chelsea to a 0-0 draw this evening but are still bottom of the table without a win. That was their third draw in a row which which trumps Spurs four defeats.

Ray

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