Premier League 2, First Division 2019-20
              EBB Stadium, Aldershot
           Friday 30th August 2019, 7pm

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

               2(0)              2(2)

           Jamie Cumming  1   Alfie Whiteman
           Tariq Lamptey  2   Jubril Okedina
         Antonio Rudiger  3   Tariq Hinds
            Marc Guehi(C) 4   Harvey White
          Henry Lawrence  5   Timothy Eyoma(C)
            Clinton Mola  6   Brooklyn Lyons-Foster
           Thierno Ballo  7   Phoenix Patterson
        George McEachran  8   Tashan Oakley-Boothe
           Charlie Brown  9   Rodel Richards
        Faustino Anjorin 10   Paris Maghoma
            Tariq Uwakwe 11   Shilow Tracey

         Marcel Tavinier 12   Armando Shashoua
                              (7)75Mins
             Karlo Ziger 13   Jonathan De Bie
           Armando Broja 14   Maurizio Pochettino
               (9)81Mins
             Jake Wakely 15   Jonathan Dinzeyi
                              (10)88Mins
            Marcel Lewis 16   Rayan Clarke
              (10)78Mins.     (8)76Mins

Scorers:-
            Mola 71           Patterson 11
            Lamptey 90+4      White 20 (pen)

Coaches:-
            Andy Myers        Wayne Burnett

Attendance:– 1215

Referee:– James Durkin
Assistants:– Robert Evans & Ashley List
Fourth Official:– Kieran Bailey 

Spurs travelled to Aldershot to play Chelsea looking to get back to winning ways after losing to Derby County 2-1 last week. The hosts were held to a 2-2 draw at Manchester City in their last match. Last season Spurs were denied a win here by a last minute equaliser by Charlie Brown to cancel out Jack Roles' goal.

On a warm evening a good sized crowd turned up for this game and must have been irritated at not getting a teamsheet to identify the up and coming talent on display. In fact there were only FOUR teamsheets made available and as there were more than that in the press box I did not get one.

Spurs lined up with Whiteman in goal behind Eyoma and Lyons-Foster with Okedina at right back and Hinds on the left. White anchored the midfield with Oakley-Boothe and Maghoma ahead of him. They were flanked by Patterson on the right and Tracey on the left in support of Richards up front. Chelsea gave 26 year old German international Rudiger a start. Former young Spur Kodi Lyons-Foster is now at Aldershot as well as AJ Eyoma who may have been present to watch their younger brothers.

Spurs defended the South end in the first half playing up the slope and out-played their hosts with their quick passing game. Rudiger conceded an early foul on Tracey and was spoken to by the referee after a number of fouls which the German did not take well.

Tracey switched sides with Patterson early and put in a cross from the right for Patterson to score the opener. Tracey also crossed for Richards to draw a save from Cummings, winning a corner from which Tracey headed wide. Mola fired wide at the other end before Tracey - back on the left - was fouled by Lamptey in the area to win a penalty. White stepped up to score to the keeper's right to double the lead.

Ballo fired wide before Anjorin won a corner from which Rudiger, who was at the back post, headed back for Brown to head over. Mola headed wide from another corner before Anjorin fired wide. Anjorin fired over from a cross by Rudiger before the break.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which saw Chelsea step up a gear in search of a way back. Guehi had an effort blocked for a corner while Brown headed wide before he just failed to reach a cross from Uwakwe. Whiteman made his first save diving to his right to save from Uwakwe. That was followed quickly by a save from Ballo.

Spurs were looking good for the three points until Oakley-Boothe was caught on the ball and Mola advanced to score in the right corner.

Lawrence won a corner from which Guehi saw his header cleared off the line. Spurs made their first change replacing Patterson with Shashoua who took a central midfield role with Oakley-Boothe moving to the right. Maghoma limped off to be replaced by Clarke soon after.

Spurs were now looking to see out the game which allowed Chelsea to put pressure on, and Whiteman saved from Lawrence at his near post. This was followed by saves from Mola and Uwakwe before Oakley-Boothe had to come off and be replaced by Dinzeyi. With a minute of normal time remaining Shashoua won the ball in the middle and played in Richards who released Tracey through the left channel for a one on one with Cummings which the keeper won.

With the game going into added time Shashoua picked up a clearance and played in Richards but his effort was blocked. Chelsea grabbed a last minute equaliser for the second season in a row when Lamptey cut inside to score low in the corner. There was just time for the restart before the final whistle, Spurs were that close to three points.

Spurs had the better of the first half while Chelsea had the second. This was another good performance and it was good to see the return of Patterson. There was plenty of good movement in midfield and Tracey worked well in the first half missing a chance to get on the scoresheet in the second half that would have wrapped it up. The draw means that Spurs are third in the table, a point behind Chelsea and Arsenal. Next week Spurs' Development side will be playing Ipswich Town in the Leasing.com Trophy. These are the new sponsors of the old Checkatrade Trophy in which some U-21 Premier sides compete along with EFL sides. That game will be on Tuesday evening at Portman Road. After the international break the U-23's will play Southampton at Hotspur Way next. Southampton were thrashed 8-2 by Everton yesterday and will be looking to repair the damage against Spurs.

Ray

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