FA Youth Cup: Tottenham Hotspur U18s 2-0 Chelsea U18s, White Hart Lane

Tom Glover (17)
Kyle Walker-Peters (17) Cameron Carter-Vickers (17) Christian Maghoma (17) Anton Walkes (18)
Charlie Owens (17) Luke Amos (18)
Zenon Stylianides (17) Josh Onomah (c) (17) Ismail Azzaoui (17)
Shayon Harrison (17)

Kazaiah Sterling (16) for Charlie Owens.
Marcus Edwards (16) for Ismail Azzaoui.

Joe Muscatt (17)
Alfie Whiteman (16)
Armani Daly (17)

I was unable to attend this match, but fortunately ITV4 broadcast the tie.

Spurs were without goalkeeper Harry Voss as well as winger Anthony Georgiou (who was missing through injury) and had to make changes to the line-up from the previous round.

Australian Tom Glover started in goal and Charlie Owens came into the centre of midfield after a string of good performances. Zenon Stylianides played on the right, with Josh Onomah behind Shayon Harrison.

Spurs kicked off and immediately Luke Amos got Kyle Walker-Peters free down the right, but Chelsea’s left back did well to get himself between man and ball and draw the foul.

Charlie Owens picked out Shayon Harrison for the first chance, but his low effort was straight at the goalkeeper, Collins, who saved at the expense of a corner.

At the other end, Tom Glover came out to sweep up as Solanke ran in behind. Solanke was the 2014 England Youth Player of the Year.

Chelsea wanted a penalty when Musonda drove forward and his attempted pass hit Walker-Peters’ arm, but the referee waved away protests. Maghoma then put an end to a Brown run with a strong challenge.

Azzaoui briefly switched over to the right and beat his man easily, before overhitting his cross significantly!

Some expert pressing from Spurs led to Chelsea struggling to play out from the back early on, with Maghoma and Carter-Vickers mopping up long balls well.

Onomah led a charge forward and fed Walkes, but his cross was easily blocked, and Owens was forced to concede a free-kick as Chelsea looked to counter.

“Get in the game, Josh”, McKenna instructed Onomah, as the game went a bit ‘cat and mouse’ as both teams played conservatively during a quiet spell.

Owens went down clutching his ankle, hurting himself in trying to tackle Musonda, who was too quick. He limped off to the touchline gingerly but was soon back on.

Tomori put in a bone-shaking challenge on Onomah, winning the ball but upsetting Josh who gave away a foul in trying to win it back.

Solanke cut in from the left but scuffed his shot well wide, before Dasilva was next to put in a tough challenge, going to ground and winning the ball from Harrison.

Walkes defended well when up against the talented Abraham, not letting him past when cutting in from the right.

Aina darted down Chelsea’s right and whipped across a fine cross which Abraham couldn’t get to on the stretch.

Azzaoui picked out Walker-Peters with a lovely low pass. He charged down the right and fed in a cross, but it was cleared relatively easily, with Harrison then unable to get on the end of an Amos ball.

Spurs went 1-0 up on 40 minutes. Onomah lost possession but won it back when a clearance ricocheted kindly into his path. He took a couple of strides forward and powered a low shot which crept under the Chelsea goalkeeper, Collins, who was clearly at fault.

Walker-Peters made a superb saving challenge on 44 minutes – the ball bobbled through to Solanke, but Walker-Peters came round on the cover to rescue Spurs.

Chelsea switched to a back four at the start of the second half, and immediately got on the front foot as a cross was cleared by Walkes straight onto Solanke but wide.

Azzaoui got into a great position on the left channel after a Stylianides pass, but he attempted a difficult ball to Harrison and it was intercepted.

Carter-Vickers did brilliantly to force Solanke wide after he’d beaten Mahoma, and when Solanke passed back to Brown, we got bodies around him.

On 55 minutes, Chelsea replaced Kyle Scott with Kasey Palmer. Spurs responded by replacing Owens with Kazaiah Sterling on 57 minutes. Sterling is still an Under-16 and had been at school today. He went up top with Harrison moving to the right. Stylianides dropped into midfield.

Almost immediately after the substitution, Glover saved well from a Solanke snapshot after Brown crossed well. The ball came back off Carter-Vickers before Glover pounced on it again. In crossing the ball, Brown was propelled over the advertising hoardings and took a nasty tumble. It wasn’t long before Brown limped off, replaced by Boga.

Onomah won a free kick on the left which was taken by Stylianides. His kick was nicely shaped into the near post, but Palmer got to it before Sterling, heading it up on the air, before Maghoma put the second ball well wide.

There was a big penalty appeal for Spurs, as Sterling was sent tumbling having been set through by a lovely scooped pass by Onomah.

Marcus Edwards replaced Ismail Azaoui on 74 minutes. He headed to the right with Harrison moving back to the centre and Sterling went out to the left.

Luke Amos picked up a yellow card for a late tackle on Kasey Palmer and hurt himself in the process.

Sterling and Edwards linked well to set Walker-Peters through on the right, but his cross was a little behind the intended target, Harrison, and two Chelsea defenders got in the way.

Spurs had another opportunity to break, but Edwards took a few touches too many and was dispossessed easily this time.

With ten minutes to go Carter-Vickers and then Glover defended superbly as Dasilva put in a couple of cross-shots, as Chelsea started to turn the screw. Glover’s low reflex save was impressive given how little he had had to do throughout the match.

Luke Amos showed fine composure once again in the middle of the pitch as Spurs tried to bring an element of calm back into the game.

Onomah found Harrison with a fine first time pass. He held onto the ball and intelligently won a free kick which was taken quickly. Edwards tried to work a yard in the box but was crowded out.

Walker-Peters put in a fantastic cross towards Sterling which was well defended by Aina in the six-yard box. That came after a lovely run and pass from Harrison.

Spurs made it 2-0 when Walkes dispossessed his man in midfield, the loose ball fell to Harrison who strode forward and timed his pass to Sterling who finished superbly with the outside of his right foot.

Then, Stylianides’ free-kick should have been cleared at the near post, but Colkett awkwardly hacked it behind for a corner, which Colkett cleared.

Carter-Vickers made a fine clearing header as Chelsea threatened on the counter, before Stylianides showed a burst of pace in midfield to win a free kick.

For Chelsea’s last clear cut chance, Boga ghosted into the box but kicked thin air as Carter-Vickers slid in.

Glover was glad to grasp a bouncing ball after he made a mess of his punch from a long throw-in, and it was all over minutes later – the whistle going as Harrison looked to break through having held the ball up well.

Glover 7 – didn’t have a great deal to do, and made a good reflex stop late on.
Walker-Peters 9 – a fantastic attacking first half performance and a solid defensive performance in the second. I say it all the time, but his balance is phenomenal.
Maghoma 7 – very solid performance from Christian, who also used the ball sensibly.
Carter-Vickers 9 – utterly dominant display with some fantastic positioning and also plenty of bravery.
Walkes 7 – did superbly for the second goal and was resolute throughout.
Amos 8 – another very tidy game in the middle of midfield. Disciplined, selfless, hard-working.
Owens 7 – some nice passing, a few tackles and got through plenty of work.
Stylianides 7 – not in his best position for some of the evening but gave a good account of himself.
Onomah 8 – after a relatively quiet first half, he came into his own in the second and showed his great close control and strength when breaking from midfield.
Azzaoui 6 – a quiet performance from one of our Youth Cup stars.
Harrison 7 – worked hard in two different roles, and timed his pass perfectly for Sterling’s goal.

Sterling – took his goal wonderfully and might have had a penalty too. He had been at school all day!
Edwards – made one lovely pass on the counter and made the wrong decision on another counter moments later.