Tottenham Under-18’s were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea in the first leg of their FA Youth Cup semi-final clash with Chelsea on Tuesday night.
Tottenham Hotspur coach John McDermott has told the club’s official website that he was impressed with Brandon Austin’s performance against Chelsea on Tuesday night.
Spurs were in FA Youth Cup action on Tuesday, as Chelsea made the short trip to White Hart Lane for the first leg of their semi-final clash – and the visitors claimed the win.
Chelsea have won the competition for three years in a row, and took a 2-0 lead against Spurs thanks to goals from Reece James and Ike Ugbo before half time.
Kazaiah Sterling did grab a goal back for Spurs, and they were handed another boost when Chelsea’s Luke McCormack missed a late penalty kick, rattling the post from 12 yards.
Spurs must now turn the tie around in the second leg after a disappointing performance at White Hart Lane, but one player managed to impress for Tottenham.
Goalkeeper Brandon Austin was handed the start between the sticks, and he proved his worth with a host of important saves, making four key stops between half time and the hour mark to keep Spurs in the game.
Austin, 18, joined Spurs from Chelsea and has been tipped for a bright future, even joining in training sessions with the England senior side back in November.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino with head of coaching and development John McDermott during training
After Tuesday’s game, Spurs coach John McDermott spoke to the Tottenham official website about the performance, praising Austin for aves before noting that whilst he has great reflexes, training with senior goalkeepers Pau Lopez, Michel Vorm and Hugo Lloris is helping the ‘excellent’ shot stopper.
“We’ve got to take credit that we stayed in the game, Brandon made some big saves and in the last 20 minutes it was a more even game but we’ve got to do better in possession and impose what we’re about rather than be reactive to the opponents,” said McDermott.
“Brandon exhibited there what he exhibits in training. He’s an excellent shot-stopper. He works with Pau Lopez, with Michel Vorm and Hugo Lloris and he has that speed of reflex. What’s disappointing is that more players didn’t exhibit what they’ve shown in training and in previous games,” he added.
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