On Saturday, November 9, Tottenham Under-18s midfielder Callum Olusesi scored a brace in the first half of a 3-1 victory over Fulham Under-18s on the road.
The Spurs’ young players won their second game of the week, continuing their incredible comeback to life without injured star Mikey Moore. Both victories are equally significant.
In his seven U18 Premier League South appearances this season, Moore has scored eight goals and provided five assists, so concerns about what Spurs would do for goals in his absence were entirely warranted.
tottenham
However, Moore’s teammates have risen to the occasion and answered those doubts with style, scoring eight goals in their two games this week. They defeated league rival Fulham at Motspur Park on Saturday afternoon and advanced to the FA Youth Cup’s round of four with a 5-1 victory away at Brentford Under-18s on Tuesday, December 5.
With the win, the team from North London now sits atop the standings with a five-point lead, and they have a six-point cushion over Fulham, who could have tied Tottenham for third place with a win.
Any team competing in any division would be proud of themselves for making it to the fourth round of a cup competition before defeating their league rivals on the road. Spurs can thank one player in particular, as midfielder Olusesi kept up his excellent goal-scoring form.
Just two minutes into the crucial match, the 16-year-old scored the game’s first goal after driving in from the first corner of the afternoon for the visitors. The attacking midfielder doubled his team’s lead in just 20 minutes with a brace, finishing well after a deft touch.
Tom Olyott’s penalty kick cut the deficit for Fulham to one goal after 37 minutes. However, similar to Brentford on Tuesday, the Cottagers rallied to tie the game, and Oliver Gofford’s late challenge on Archie Chaplin resulted in a straight red card, leaving the game with just ten men. Spurs completed the victory with a third added by Kieran Morgan, who scored the game’s lone goal in the second half.
tottenham
Olusesi has now won four straight games in a Spurs uniform across all competitions. On November 6, the young player scored twice for the England Under-17s in a European qualifying match against the Kosovo Under-17s.
Olusesi has obviously found his goal-scoring groove, which will only benefit his team in the upcoming weeks as they go without Moore, their greatest goal-scoring threat.
Ange Postecoglou, the manager of the first team, may be beginning to take notice of him as well, given that his team is currently experiencing both an injury crisis and a decline in performance.
