Zeki Fryers was the fall guy against former club Manchester United as Tottenham’s under-21 side lost 1-0 to the Red Devils.
Sir Alex Ferguson may just have cracked a smile.
He certainly was not laughing when it was announced in January that Ezekiel Fryers would be signing permanently with Tottenham, months after leaving United for Standard Liege in Belgium.
Just months earlier Spurs had tried to sign him from United, but because a transaction between two English clubs for a player of his age would have led to a costly tribunal and compensation owed to the Red Devils, Spurs walked away from the deal.
So believing Spurs and Daniel Levy had planned to circumnavigate the system and were in cahoots with Liege all along, Fergie blew his top in January and threatened to report Tottenham to the FA.
Months on and the storm in teacup has subsided, and Zeki Fryers was part of the Tottenham under-21 line-up which faced their United counterparts in Salford this evening.
United won 1-0 in a match they largely dominated against league leaders Tottenham, and it is not a game Fryers will want to remember in a hurry.
The winning goal was scored in the second half by English midfielder Ryan Tunnicliffe, who took advantage of hesitancy by his former teammate to pounce in and score early in the second half.
He took on Fryers, who had a chance to clear the ball but couldn’t adjust quickly enough and Tunnicliffe poked the ball home for what proved to be the winner.
Fryers may yet have the last laugh this season, with Tottenham remaining above United heading into the end of season play-offs to determine a champion in the inaugural Premier League under-21 campaign, but tonight is one he may wish to forget.
Do you think Fryers will make it at Spurs?
image: © Denise&David
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