Spurs under 18’s 2-0 Norwich: (match report)

Our under 18’s put in yet another impressive display when they defeated Norwich 2-0 in the FA Youth cup 5th round on Thursday night, to book their place in the quarter finals. The opening minutes of the match saw the visitors on top, with the canaries playing fast attacking football. Norwich winger Glen Middleton saw his effort fly narrowly over the crossbar early on. However, after a tough opening the Lillywhites quality began to shine and on 17 minutes a nice piece of play resulted in us taking the lead. Samuel Shashoua used his skill to cut inside his man, passing the ball to George Marsh who surging forward put a perfectly measured through ball in to the path of Kazaiah Sterling. Sterling’s composure in front of goal saw the striker fire the ball low into the bottom corner of the net, 1-0 to Spurs! We began to flourish after taking the lead playing some breathtaking attacking football, akin to that of Pochettino’s senior team. And on the half hour mark Spurs doubled their advantage, after midfielder Dylan Duncan showed good feet to pick out Sterling who burst past the Norwich defenders, before jabbing the ball into the back of the net, 2-0 to the Spurs! Sterling almost got his hat-trick minutes later when Shashoua put in a delightful through ball, but Sterling took a moment too long as Norwich defender Toby Syme managed to block the strikers effort.

We went into the second half on a high, and our impressive play continued just three minutes into the second half Japhet Tanganga came close to netting Spurs’ third, when Shashoua whipped a cross in to the box which was met by the tall centre half, his effort going narrowly over the crossbar. Winger Keanan Bennett’s effort was blocked minutes later when the off balance Bennett’s saw his effort superbly blocked on the line by a Norwich defender. A terrific late save by goalkeeper Alfie Whiteman ensured that Spurs kept a deserved clean sheet. After last nights terrific performance, Spurs have now progressed into the quarter finals of this prestigious competition, they will now face Newcastle United who they will play at the 52,000 seater stadium, St James’ Park on a date yet to be confirmed. Instead of doing my usual round up focusing on a couple of our key performers, I will instead go through each player individually on the list below. As last nights performance was an excellent team performance.

– Alfie Whiteman: He may not have had an awful lot to do, but when called into action Whiteman was assured. His diving save late on in the second half was superb.
– TJ Eyoma: The athletic right back had a very good game, powerful down the flanks his anticipation was top draw, I’m a big fan of Eyoma!
– Nick Tsaroulla: The left back was exceptional against Norwich, Tsaroulla was excellent going forward, his incredibly fast over 10 metres. He’s really beginning to remind me of Danny Rose, Tsaroulla was also very good defensively, making two brilliant challenges late on.
– Jonathan Dinzeyi: The tall centre back had a good match, composed and good on the ball, Dinzeyi is very hard to shrug off the ball.
– Japhet Tanganga: Yet another excellent performance from the highly rated centre half. He was powerful, assured and decisive and was superb in the air.
– Samuel Shashoua: The most creative player on the field, Shashoua’s dribbling wowed the crowd. He is a special player and the Norwich players we’re constantly marking him. His quick thinking was really impressive.
– George Marsh: An outstanding performance from captain George Marsh. Tenacious as ever Marsh never stopped, the midfielder broke up play very well.
– Dylan Duncan: The box to box midfielder had a good game, setting up the second goal Duncan made some clever runs from midfield.
– Kazaiah Sterling: My man of the match, Kazaiah Sterling was on fire last night. The powerful centre forward caused the Norwich defence a headache through out, another hot prospect!
– Tashan Oakley-Boothe: Playing as the number 10 against Norwich Oakley-Boothe was impressive, he showed good creativity last night. There’s a lot more to come from the England youth international.
– Keanan Bennett’s: The winger was very sharp on the left wing and was a potent threat through out, whipping in some delightful crosses.

 
My man of the match: Clinical striker Kazaiah Sterling who grabbed a brace in Thursday nights 2-0 victory.

 
Confirmation that the quarter final tie will be played at St James’ park- https://www.nufc.co.uk/news/latest-news/united-learn-fa-youth-cup-quarter-final-opponents

Spurs: Whiteman (GK), Eyoma, Tsaroulla, Marsh (c), Dinzeyi, Tanganga, Shashoua, Duncan (Skipp 77), Sterling, Oakley-Boothe, Bennetts (Griffiths 68). Substitutes (not used): Hinds, Brown, Austin (GK).

Norwich City: Hale-Brown, Aarons, Syme, Sambu (Fleming 75), Wallis, Odusina, Spyrou, McIntosh, Ashley-Seal, Hlynsson (Kamal 62), Middleton. Substitutes (not used): Payne, Ellesley, Dickenson (GK).

Goals: Spurs – Sterling 17, 30.

Yellow cards: Spurs – Tanganga 64, Eyoma 65, Tsaroulla 73, Oakley-Boothe 90+4; Norwich – McIntosh 39, Sambu 71.

Referee: J Smith.

Attendance: 698.

Spurs under 23’s 3-1 Southampton: (match report)

Our under 23’s recorded a much needed 3-1 victory over Southampton on Tuesday night. Ugo Ehiogu’s side put in a vibrant first half display which saw Spurs put three goals past Southampton, their confident first half performance effectively ending the game. Spurs started the game the better side, passing the ball around the field with ease. The first real chance came early on when Joe Pritchard whipped a fine cross into the box in which the unmarked Ryan Loft waywardly volleyed off target, Loft knew he should have done better. Spurs’ domination of the game paid off just before the half hour mark, when Nathan Oduwa opened the scoring for Spurs. Oduwa who was playing with an air of confidence as the passed the ball to Miller from the edge of the area and Miller played the ball back into the path of Oduwa who fired home in style, his composed side footed effort flying in to the top corner. Oduwa was again the inspiration for our second goal which came just two minutes afterwards. Oduwa darted forward on the left wing before whipping in a low cross, which was bundled into the back of the net by Southampton defender Joes, 2-0 to Spurs. Southampton had barely got any of the ball in the remainder of the first half, as Spurs played with a panache about their game. And deep in to stoppage time of the first half Spurs got their third of the game. Oduwa again the provider playing a short pass to Tracey who showed good ball control inside the area, managing to rifle a shot in to the far corner of the net.

The second half was nowhere near as exciting as the first, the game petered out with neither side creating much to shout about. However, after a rash sliding challenge from Joe Pritchard in the 59th minute the referee awarded the saints a penalty. Ryan Seager’s effort was initially denied by a fine Glover save, only for the ball to roll into the path of Seager who made no mistake as he hit the ball home. There was little of note in the remaining half an hour, as Spurs comfortably completed an important 3-1 victory over the saints, to go three points clear of safety in eighth position, a result which will delight Ugo Ehiogu. It was a really impressive performance last night in what was a bitterly cold evening in Stevenage, I was surprised to see loanees Luke Amos, Will Miller and Ryan Loft involved even though they are eligible under EFL ruling. I thought our more experienced side put in a really good performance and it was refreshing to see us get three points on the board.

I thought Nathan Oduwa was superb yet again (see below) I also thought that Will Miller had a good game, I am a big fan of Miller. The 20 year old is an incredibly skilful player and he made great movement as well as assisting Oduwa’s goal. Shilow Tracey is really beginning to find his feet in under 23 football, I’ve been really impressed with him in recent matches and Tuesdays match was no exception he was very good on the ball, he now has 4 goals this season. The centre half pairing of Christian Maghoma and Filip Lesniak was successful, both were solid and the former was excellent in the air. The players played well as a team and they’ll go in to next Sunday’s match against Liverpool, at Anfield with confidence.

My man of the match: For the third time in our last three matches Nathan Oduwa has been the creative force. Oduwa was brilliant against Southampton, he was without doubt the best player on the pitch getting a goal and two assists. Oduwa’s recent fine form will likely catch Pochettino’s eye.
Spurs: Glover, Walker-Peters, Muscatt, Amos (c), Maghoma, Lesniak, Miller (Goddard 74), Pritchard (Stylianides 60), Loft, Tracey, Oduwa. Substitutes (not used): Brown, Lock, McDermott (GK).

Southampton: Latham, Valery, Wood, Rowthorn, Cook, Jones (c), Willard (Olomola 46), O’Connor, Seager (Barnes 70), Slattery, Johnson. Substitutes (not used): Vokins, Smallbone, Parkes (GK).

Goals: Spurs – Oduwa 28, Jones (OG) 30, Tracey 45+2; Southampton – Seager 59.

Yellow cards: Spurs – Amos 78; Southampton – Cook 55.

Referee: Constantine Hatzidakis.
Attendance: 431.