Premier League 2, Division 1, 2019-20
   Lamex Stadium, Broardhall Way, Stevenage
        Friday 18th October 2019, 7pm 

            SPURS    v   LEICESTER CITY
        (White/Blue)       (All Blue)
           4-1-4-1           4-4-2

             0(0)             2(0)

    Jonathan De Bie  1  Viktor Johansson
    Timothy Eyoma(C) 2  Mitch Clark
        Tariq Hinds  3  Luke Thomas
   T. Oakley-Boothe  4  George Thomas(C)
    Malachi Walcott  5  Darnell Johnson
         Luis Binks  6  Filip Benkovic
  Phoenix Patterson  7  Tyrese Shade
      Paris Maghoma  8  Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
     Rodel Richards  9  George Hirst
   Armando Shashoua 10  Admiral Muskwe
      Shilow Tracey 11  Callum Wright

     Jubril Okedina 12  Vontae Daley-Campbell
  Kacper Kurylowicz 13  Jakub Stolarczyk
       Rayan Clarke 14  Calvin Ughelumba
          (9)70Mins     (3)76Mins
Maurizio Pochettino 15  Thakgalo Leshabele
                        (7)19Mins
    Dilan Markanday 16  Josh Eppiah
          (7)70Mins     (10)72Mins

Scorers:-
                        Wright 54
                        Hirst 84

Booked:-
    Walcott 40(Foul)    Frost 65(KBA)
    Maghoma 79(KBA)
Oakley-Boothe 88(KBA)

Coach:-
      Wayne Burnett     Steve Beaglehole

Attendance:- 615

Referee:– Lloyd Wood
Assistants:– Martin Chester & David Hutton
Fourth Official:– Joe Woolmer 

It was a cool overcast evening for the resumption of the league programme after the International break with Spurs taking on Leicester City at Stevenage. While Spurs were a point better off than the "Foxes" it was Leicester who had the better recent record having drawn with leaders Chelsea in their last game while Spurs lost at Brighton. Last season Spurs overcome the "Foxes" 1-0 at Hotspur Way.

Spurs lined up with De Bie behind Walcott and Binks with Eyoma at right back and Hinds on the left. Oakley-Boothe anchored the midfield with Shashoua and Maghoma ahead of him. They were flanked by Patterson on the right and Tracey on the left in support of Richards up front.

Spurs defended the North end in the first half which settled into a midfield duel as Spurs looked to pass their way through the visitors who pressed well, picking off the bad passes to attack themselves. Both back lines stood up well to protect their goals and to prevent most chances from occuring.

Shashoua played in Patterson to fire wide before the winger forced Johansson into a save winning a corner. Hirst headed down for Muskwe to hit wide before Shade had to go off and be replaced by Leshabela who had an effort wide soon after. Tracey got into the area on the left but his effort was blocked and Richards' follow-up was also blocked.

Dewsbury-Hall shot wide from distance before Walcott was caught out by a long ball down the left and fouled Muskwe to prevent him getting away. De Bie saved the free kick by Hirst before Walcott got up the other end, playing a wall pass before forcing a good save from Johansson. The last chance of the half was by Muskwe whose effort was wide for a corner.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which saw the visitors gradually get on top as they kept pressing and forcing Spurs to give the ball away too often. Johnson headed over from an early corner. Muskwe was played in but De Bie held his shot and was fouled by the striker who followed up trying to force him into the net.

Clark got down the right to cross for Wright to head goalward, but De Bie was able to save. Leicester took the lead when George Thomas took a free kick out on the left which hit the near post and in the following scramble Wright turned the ball in. Spurs responded with Hinds getting down the left crossing for Shashoua to drive just wide of the near post winning a corner.

Maghoma drew a save before Shashoua won the ball on the right and crossed for Tracey to draw a save at the far post. When Luke Thomas was pulled up for a foul after a run down the left he was booked for kicking the ball away. The full back made another run to draw a save from De Bie while Benkovic had a shot from distance that the keeper also saved.

Spurs made their first change bringing on Markanday for Patterson. The little winger made his presence felt when he chased a long ball into the corner robbing the defender and whipping in a cross. Shashoua played in Oakley-Boothe who fired over before Spurs made their second change. Clarke came on for Richards to play on the left with Tracey going up front.

Maghoma went into the ref's book when he was caught offside and hit a long range effort which was ruled as kicking the ball away. Leicester got a second goal when Hinds was unlucky with the bounce in a tackle and Eppiah was able to cross for Hirst to finish. Hirst then missed another chance from a corner putting the ball over the bar.

Markanday sent Oakley-Boothe away down the right but the midfielder was flagged offside and when he kicked the ball away in frustration he was booked. In added time Markanday played in Maghoma to draw a save.

This was not a great performance by Spurs with too many loose passes putting themselves under pressure. The Walcott partnership with Binks that developed in the U-16's shone through for Spurs and the hard work by Shashoua in midfield were the standout performances from an under par team performance. Leicester go above Spurs in the table. We now have had three defeats in a row and travel to Telford next week to play Wolverhampton Wanderers, who are on the same number of points. Wolves will play Liverpool on Sunday and if they lose Spurs will go above them on goal difference, but then Liverpool will go above us. This shows how close it is at the bottom of the table.

Ray

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