Tottenham U 21 1-2 Manchester United U 21: Adnan Januzaj leads late goal flurry before captain Tom Thorpe seals last gasp victory
* Manchester U 21s defeated Tottenham U 21s 2-1 at the Lamex Stadium
* Adnan Januzaj opened the scoring with a curling free-kick after 87mins
* Nathan Oduwa equalised for Spurs only one minute later
* Tom Thorpe sealed the win with a header from Januzaj's corner on 90mins
* Januzaj had struggled to make an impression before the final few minutes
* Belgian is trying to convince Louis van Gaal to give him a starting berth
* Late drama sent United top of the Under 21 Premier League
Tom Thorpe’s thumping header in stoppage time gave Manchester United a dramatic win over Tottenham and sent them top of the Under 21 Premier League.
The United captain rose above a static Spurs defence to power home an Adnan Januzaj corner with just seconds left on the clock.
This was a contest that had meandered along for 87 minutes until Januzaj, seeking to persuade Louis van Gaal that he deserved a starting place in the first team with Wayne Rooney suspended until November, curled a breathtaking free-kick into the top corner.
Manchester United captain Tom Thorpe (2R) celebrates his late winner in the 2-1 victory over Tottenham
Thorpe capped off a fine week after making his first team debut by scoring the winner
Januzaj (second left) is mobbed by his team-mates after curling home a free-kick to give United the lead
But straight from the re-start, United’s defence hesitated and the impressive Nathan Oduwa outjumped Anders Lindegaard in a 50-50 contest to win the bouncing ball and blast home from close range.
Yet the drama wasn’t quite over as Warren Joyce’s team, in classic Man United style, plundered victory in injury time at the Lamex Stadium through a captain's intervention.
Januzaj has threatened only sporadically prior to the last few minutes and put forward a weak argument that he should play ahead of Juan Mata or anyone else in the first team. But a moment of improvisation from the free-kick and an inch-perfect corner may yet persuade Van Gaal to throw him in against Everton on Sunday.
United coach Joyce fielded no less than six players with first-team experience: Januzaj and Lindegaard, of course, but also Saidy Janko, Marnick Vermijl, Andreas Pereira and James Wilson. All but the Danish goalkeeper in that half-dozen were involved in that horror night at MK Dons just over a month ago.
Januzaj was certainly the main attraction for the sizeable crowd assembled on a foggy night in Stevenage but his dazzling footwork was only seen in glimpses during a disappointing first-half.
Quote:
MATCH FACTS
Tottenham Hotspur: Luke McGee, Alex McQueen, Dominic Ball, Milos Veljkovic (c), Connor Ogilvie, (Filip Lesniak 46), Emmanuel Sonupe (Will Miller 58), Harry Winks, Joshua Onomah, Nathan Oduwa, Cristian Ceballos, Daniel Akindayini (Ruben Lameiras 76)
Substitutes not used: Harry Voss (GK)
Scorer: Oduwa 88
Booked: McQueen, Ball
Manchester United: Anders Lindegaard, Saidy Janko, Tom Thorpe (c), Marnick Vermijl, Callum Evans, Ben Pearson, Andreas Pereira, Adnan Januzaj, Josh Harrop (Joe Rothwell 45+1), William Keane, James Wilson (Liam Grimshaw 46)
Substitutes not used: Kieran O’Hara, James Weir, Axel Tuanzebe
Scorers: Januzaj 87; Thorpe 90+2
Referee: Robert Hyde
Attendance: 1,671
|
United starlet Januzaj shows his experience as he skips past Tottenham's Joshua Onomah (R)
The result took United to the top of the Under 21 Premier League
It took nearly 10 minutes to get the ball to the Belgian’s feet, only for his purposeful run to be halted by Nathan Oduwa.
We were approaching the half hour by the time Januzaj again had chance to burst forward, detecting and finding Callum Evans on the overlap. His cross found Pereira, whose shot from the edge of the box was bravely blocked by Spurs captain Milos Veljkovic.
William Miller of Tottenham (R) holds up the ball under pressure from United's Liam Grimshaw
Manchester United's main man Januzaj (C) races away from three Tottenham players
Quote:
JANUZAJ WATCH
9min The Belgian get the ball at his feet for the first time and sets off on a run down the left. He gets past two defenders but is muscled out by Nathan Oduwa
29min Januzaj again has the opportunity to burst forward down the left, this time laying it wide to Callum Evans on the overlap. It leads to a chance for Andreas Pereira
70min After a quiet second half, Januzaj gets an opportunity with a set-piece 25 yards out but curls the ball wide
87min With the game heading for a stalemate, Januzaj bends in a superb free-kick from wide on the right. With the perfect pitch and loft, it flies over the head of goalkeeper Luke McGee and into the net.
90+1min Delivers the corner that is met by United captain Tom Thorpe to win the match
|
United’s only other chance of note came when Wilson, who memorably scored those two goals against Hull on his first-team debut at the fag end of last season, forced a save from Luke McGee after Janko’s mis-hit fell kindly for him.
Instead it was Spurs who looked more threatening and England Under 18 international Oduwa, powerful and omnipresent, was their stand-out performer.
On 11 minutes, he worked half-a-yard inside the box and curled a shot over the bar after Emmanuel Sonupe had picked him out from the right, and he seemed to have some kind of involvement in every Spurs attack after that.
Just before that, Harry Winks crossed left-footed and tall frontman Daniel Akindayini couldn’t direct a difficult header on target. Cristian Ceballos also sent a flicked header wide of the mark from an Alex McQueen as Spurs continuously profited down the right.
But Lindegaard wasn’t actually troubled until two minutes into the second half when Ceballos forced him into a save at his near post with a low drive. Two minutes later, he turned a vicious Oduwa shot round the post as Spurs continued to take the game to United.
Mauricio Pochettino, watching from the stands, would have been impressed with his team's application.
Saidy Janko (L) of Manchester United battles for the ball with Nathan Oduwa during the first-half stalemate
Manchester United Under 21 coach Warren Joyce barks orders from the touchline
William Keane (R) of Manchester United and Joshua Onomah try and break the deadlock after the interval
Finally, United stirred. Dominic Ball was forced into a hasty clearance under pressure from Will Keane with McGee nowhere near it.
Januzaj at last started to make his presence felt after switching to the right but his best opportunity came from a dead ball rather than dancing feet, when he curled a free-kick wide from a good position 25 yards from goal.
It looked for all the world at that point we were heading for a stalemate, but the drama was just beginning.
Quote:
IS JANUZAJ UNITED'S NEW SOLSKJAER
Januzaj has yet to start a match for Man United this season but has come on every time he has been on the bench. Is he destined to be United's impact sub like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was?
vs Swansea City
66 minutes - came on for Jesse Lingard
vs Sunderland
27 minutes - came on for Darren Fletcher
vs MK Dons
70 minutes - came on for Shinji Kagawa
vs Burnley
3 minutes - came on for Juan Mata
vs QPR
8 minutes - came on for Angel di Maria
vs Leicester City
18 minutes - came on for Radamel Falcao
|
Januzaj falls to the ground after opening the scoring with a late free-kick
Code:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2774141/Tottenham-U-21-1-2-Manchester-United-U-21-Adnan-Januzaj-leads-late-goal-flurry.html