Williams-Barnett nets treble as Under-21s hit Leicester for six

Luca Williams-Barnett hit a first-half hat-trick as our Under-21s ran out 6-3 winners in a thriller at Leicester City on Friday night.

The 16-year-old netted twice from close range in the opening half-an-hour – the first one accompanied by a slice of fortune and the second an opportunistic reaction after Yusuf Akhamrich’s shot was saved – before rounding off his treble in the 41st minute with the kind of strike he’s more accustomed to, an explosive finish from the edge of the area to put us 4-2 in front.

Rio Kyerematen, operating as a false nine, contributed two goals and went agonisingly close to completing a hat-trick of his own at the end of the game, with substitute Leo Black also on target in the closing minutes.

It wasn’t all one-way traffic, though, as we allowed Leicester to keep coming back at us with Olabade Aluko, Silko-Amari Thomas and Jake Evans all finding the net. Indeed, it wasn’t until the latter stages that we truly had the game won.

Williams-Barnett’s hat-trick spanned 39 minutes, with his first goal coming just over 60 seconds in – perhaps with more luck than judgment. Jun’ai Byfield’s ball over the top found Reiss Russell-Denny in space in behind and his square pass saw defender Kevon Gray play the ball against the attacking midfielder before it looped up and dropped into the net.

Thomas threatened a couple of times for Leicester while Akhamrich was denied by a good low save from Stevie Bausor before the hosts restored parity on 21 minutes, captain Aluko latching onto a long ball down the right before darting between two players and finishing from an acute angle – a disappointing goal to concede from our perspective.

Williams-Barnett showed quick reactions to tuck home his and our second on 28 minutes after Bausor had parried Akhamrich’s effort and then saw a low strike cleared off the line by Gray, but Leicester hit back once more with 33 on the watch, Thomas curling low into the corner on his right foot.

The hosts were finding their fair share of openings but two goals in three minutes towards the end of the first period swung the contest firmly in our favour, Kyerematen drilling home through a crowded box after Williams-Barnett’s corner was cleared out to him, before the latter cracked in a rasping shot from the edge of the area after Kyerematen won the ball on the right-hand touchline and fed Russell-Denny, who in turn set up the youngster to make it 4-2 going in at the break.

Williams-Barnett was a little off-target with his trademark attempt from the half-way line at the start of the second period but Leicester remained a threat and pulled one back on 55 minutes when Evans collected a pass from the right side and curled beyond Luca Gunter. Evans missed a great chance in the middle of the box moments later while Thomas went close with a rising shot towards the near post, but after the latter went off with 20 minutes remaining, the Foxes lost some of their attacking impetus and our fifth goal with a quarter-of-an-hour remaining – a cracking strike from Kyerematen that went in off the underside of the crossbar following substitute Tynan Thompson’s cut-back – finally saw us take a tighter grip.

Williams-Barnett teed up substitute Black to dart into the box and finish from a tight angle after we won possession in an advanced position – and in truth we could have scored several more in the latter stages with the hosts on the ropes. Kyerematen was left kicking himself after missing two chances to complete his treble, either side of an angled Thompson drive that nestled into the side netting. We were deserved winners overall, but coach Wayne Burnett’s calls for a better collective defensive effort in the wake of Tuesday’s UEFA Youth League win over Villarreal again rang true as the dust settled at the Foxes’ training ground.

Reaction on SPURSPLAY

‘We were much better in the second half’

“In the first half we didn’t play with the fluidity that we have done, so I’m a little bit disappointed if I’m being honest,” said Wayne as he reflected on the game on SPURSPLAY. “We spoke at half-time about some spaces that we needed to exploit better and I thought we were much better in the second half. It was evident on Tuesday that some of our reactions weren’t quite good enough when we lost the ball and we spoke about the importance of that, we speak often about how quickly we can press the opposition and to see if we can press them in their own half to try to regain the ball, and a few of our goals came from that tonight, so that was pleasing.”

On Williams-Barnett’s first Under-21s hat-trick, Wayne added: “Some of his football is very, very good. He’s an intelligent footballer for such a young man, he’s got ability and talent, you can clearly see that. He has to keep working, he has to keep developing but he can be very exciting at times.”

Match data

Goals: Leicester City – Aluko 21, Thomas 33, Evans 55; Spurs – Williams-Barnett 2, 28, 41, Kyerematen 39, 75, Black 85.

Yellow cards: Leicester City – Aluko 90+2; Spurs – Akhamrich 32, Cassanova 68.

Referee: Paul Marsden.

Venue: Leicester City Training Ground.

Weather: Clear sky, gentle breeze, 20 degrees.

Attendance: 374.