Spurs 3-3 Benfica (U23s) - report from Hotspur Way

Our Under-23s were in the driving seat against Benfica on Thursday, but substitute Nuno Santos’ equaliser 12 minutes from time left our involvement in the Premier League International Cup hanging in the balance.

Despite playing on the front foot for most of the game, we twice found ourselves a goal down but fought back through Shilow Tracey and Jack Roles, before former Atlanta United loanee Anton Walkes blasted home for 3-2 in only his second game back at the club.

Tracey and Walkes somehow contrived to miss a glaring double-chance to extend our lead and that ultimately proved costly as Santos’ leveller from a set-piece routine ensured the game – hastily re-arranged to take place at Hotspur Way after being postponed on Wednesday night due to a waterlogged pitch at Stevenage – ended 3-3.

A win for either side would have secured automatic progress to the next stage of the competition, but the result means we’re relying on a draw between Bayern Munich and Porto at Aldershot Town on Friday in order to go through from second place in Group F as one of the two best runners-up. We’ve amassed four points from our three group stage games to finish second behind group winners Villarreal.

KEY ACTION

GOAL: SPURS 0-1 BENFICA – JOAO SEQUEIRA – 21mins
Anthony Georgiou was a real threat down the left flank, repeatedly beating his man, but it was Benfica – who included ex-Arsenal player Chris Willock among their number – who took the lead against the run of play as Jose Gomes sent the ball into the danger zone from the right flank and Joao Sequeira was on hand to convert at the far post.

GOAL: SPURS 1-1 BENFICA – SHILOW TRACEY – 39mins
Good persistence from Tracey saw him win the ball just outside Benfica’s box as they looked to mount an attack themselves. He exchanged passes with Shayon Harrison before firing in from the right side of the box, his effort taking a slight touch off goalkeeper Ivan Zlobin on its way in.

Above: TJ Eyoma on defensive duties.

GOAL: SPURS 1-2 BENFICA – HERIBERTO TAVARES – 46mins
The Portuguese side made a quick start to the second half and regained the lead 27 seconds after the restart when Heriberto Tavares advanced towards the box and lashed past Brandon Austin from 20 yards.

GOAL: SPURS 2-2 BENFICA – JACK ROLES – 50mins
After scoring on his first league start of the season against Everton last week, Roles once again brought us back level in short order. Tracey picked up the ball out on the right and picked out the midfielder in a pocket of space in Benfica’s area, with Roles taking a touch before firing into the gaping net.

GOAL: SPURS 3-2 BENFICA – ANTON WALKES – 55mins
We finally had the lead we deserved five minutes later. Roles sent the ball in from the right, Kazaiah Sterling’s close-range effort was somehow clawed out from underneath the bar by Zlobin but Walkes spotted his opportunity, striding onto the ball and crashing it into the top corner.

CHANCES: TRACEY AND WALKES CLOSE – 58mins
There was a golden chance to extend our lead shortly before the hour mark but Tracey steered his free header from Roles’ corner straight at Zlobin and Walkes could only divert the rebound across goal and wide of the far post.

GOAL: SPURS 3-3 BENFICA – NUNO SANTOS – 78mins
Benfica levelled the scores 12 minutes from time when, after substitute George Marsh was adjudged to have handled in the left-back position, skipper Pedro Amaral sent the free-kick across the edge of the box and, after nobody got a touch, it fell at the feet of Santos, who sent the ball spinning through the congested area and into the bottom corner. Benfica pushed for a winner in stoppage time with Austin tipping Daniel Anjos' effort over the bar and Tavares seeing his overhead kick zip just wide of the post, but the spoils were ultimately shared.

COACH WAYNE BURNETT SAID

“We showed good endeavour, scored three good goals but we gave away goals that were needless. For effort and commitment we were very good, it’s just disappointing after being in front towards the end that we conceded the third goal but we showed real spirit, effort, commitment and desire to come back twice from being behind.

“We’ve been on a difficult run of late, we’ve found wins hard to come by but we have to continue to believe, which we showed today. We were a little bit naive at times, we came out in the second half and conceded after about 30 seconds and then we were fighting to get back in the game again but we did and I felt probably we should have gone on to win the game. We didn’t, but there were some encouraging signs and we can build on that. It’s just disappointing that we haven’t managed to get all three points to put us in a position where we know we can qualify and we’ll have to wait for the other results now.”

MATCH DATA

Spurs: Austin, Walkes, Georgiou, Skipp (Duncan 80), C Maghoma, Eyoma, Tracey (Pritchard 83), Amos (c), Harrison, Roles (Marsh 69), Sterling. Substitutes (not used): O’Reilly, Dinzeyi.

Benfica: Zlobin, Kalaica, Willock (Anjos 71), Amaral (c), Luis, Gomes (Soares 46), Sequeira, Mendes (Santos 59), Tavares, Lystcov, Cuevas. Substitutes (not used): Duarte, Dju, Araujo, Alvaro.

Goals: Spurs – Tracey 39, Roles 50, Walkes 55; Benfica – Sequeira 21, Tavares 46, Santos 78.

Referee: Alan Young.

UP NEXT

There’s a hugely-important fixture for the Under-23s at Old Trafford on Monday evening (29 January), as we take on Manchester United in a battle of the two clubs in the Premier League 2 drop zone. Victory is a must for Wayne Burnett’s side if they’re to move off the foot of the standings and stay in touch with the teams above them.