Tottenham Hotspur take a handsome advantage into their FA Youth Cup semi-final second leg against Chelsea in a fortnight thanks to goals from Josh Onomah and Kazaiah Sterling.
In a tie that pitted two sides with some of the country’s brightest young talents, Spurs exacted a revenge of sorts on last Sunday’s Capital One Cup defeat by the same margin, and were well worth their win in front of the ITV4 cameras at White Hart Lane.
Tottenham 2-0 Chelsea
FA Youth Cup
Semi-final first leg
White Hart Lane
Thursday 5 March 2015
The hosts took the lead on 43 minutes after Chelsea failed to clear their lines and fluffed a clearance only as far as Onomah on the right-hand side of the box.
The England U18s midfielder and Spurs captain struck firmly enough, but his finish squirmed under the grasp of Chelsea keeper Bradley Collins.
It was a moment that came to define a rather sloppy display from both sides, and Chelsea in particular will look back on a night when their stars failed to fire.
Isaiah Brown and Dominic Solanke, who have been involved in Chelsea’s first-team squads this season and are playing a year above age-group for England U19s, had the reputation of European Champions to live up to, but they were well-marshalled and restricted to only flickers in a disappointing spectacle.
Isaiah Brown powers forward for Chelsea
Indeed the crowd had to wait until close to an hour before their first combination, as Solanke made headway down the left, and picked out Brown with a pinpoint cutback from the byline.
Brown had time to spare, but his shot was weak and straight at Thomas Glover, who saved with some ease.
The pair reversed the trick seconds later when Brown found space on the right, then crossed for Solanke, but Glover saved again.
Unfortunately Brown’s momentum took him over the advertising boards, and while the Chelsea forward tried to play on, he limped badly and was soon replaced.
That brought to an end arguably the busiest period of Australian keeper Glover’s evening, although his heart might have skipped a beat on several occasions, such was his defence’s slowness to clear their lines.
But for all Chelsea pressed forward, they could never find the fluency to break down a resolute Spurs defence, and in the end the visitors fell foul of a rare counter-attack.
Shayon Harrison, who along with Onomah stood out for Kieran McKenna’s side, burst into the Chelsea defence, with only his substitute team-mate Sterling and two Chelsea defenders for company.
The striker then slipped in Sterling, who cut in from the left and opened his body up to poke past Collins.
Chelsea host Spurs in the return leg on Wednesday 18 March.
Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1): 1 Thomas Glover; 2 Kyle Walker-Peters, 5 Cameron Carter-Vickers, 6 Christian Maghoma, 3 Anton Walkes; 4 Luke Amos, 8 Charlie Owens; 7 Zenon Stylanides, 10 Josh Onomah (capt), 11 Ismael Azzaoui; 9 Shayon Harrison.
Substitutes: 16 Kazaiah Sterling for Owens 57, 15 Marcus Edwards for Azzaoui 74.
Substitutes not used: 13 Alfie Whiteman, 12 Joe Muscatt, 14 Armani Daly.
Goals: Onomah 43, Sterling 83.
Chelsea (4-3-3): 1 Bradley Collins; 2 Ola Aina, 3 Fikayo Tomori, 4 Ruben Sammutt, 5 Jay DaSilva; 6 Charlie Colkett, 10 Kyle Scott, 8 Charly Musonda; 11 Isaiah Brown, 9 Dominic Solanke, 7 Tammy Abraham.
Substitutes: 16 Kasey Palmer for Scott 55; 12 Jeremie Boga for Brown 64.
Substitutes not used: 13 Jared Thompson, 14 Joshua Grant, 15 Mukhtar Ali.
