Williams-Barnett hits treble as Under-18s win thriller against United

Luca Williams-Barnett netted a sparkling hat-trick as our Under-18s ended Manchester United’s 100 per cent start to the season with a thrilling 4-3 win in the Under-18 Premier League Cup on Saturday morning.

The young forward added to Ellis Lehane’s well-taken opener with two goals before the break – he was only denied a first-half treble by the woodwork – before emphatically firing home his third seven minutes into the second period to put us 4-0 up at Hotspur Way.

We’d been rampant for much of the game against a United side who had won 9-0 against Blackburn Rovers in the league last weekend, Herbie James squandering a good chance to make it five, but United began a stirring revival with 13 minutes left, substitute Shea Lacey’s quickfire brace being added to by Gabe Biancheri’s penalty five minutes from time to bring it back to 4-3. However, we stood firm in the wake of heavy pressure for the remainder of the game, including six minutes of added time, to edge over the line and put our first win on the board in the group stage of the competition after a home loss to Leeds in August.

Our bright start was rewarded when Lehane went through and fired home clinically with only five minutes gone. Sam Archer made a good save from United’s Jame Scanlon moments later but we were a real threat going forward and after Lehane’s shot was repelled by goalkeeper William Murdoch, Williams-Barnett was on hand to convert the rebound from the left angle to double our lead after 19 minutes.

Seven minutes later, it was 3-0 as Williams-Barnett embarked on a dazzling solo run in from the left side before applying an ice-cool finish into the bottom corner. United’s Reece Munro went close with headers from corners on a couple of occasions during the opening period but we continued on the front foot despite losing Lehane to injury as his replacement Reiss Elliott-Parris pounced on a loose ball in first-half stoppage time and squared for Williams-Barnett, but this time his deft low shot cannoned back off the base of the post, denying him his hat-trick.

Miracle Adewole also hit the woodwork just 12 seconds into the second half but United carried more of a threat after making a couple of changes at the break, one of those introduced, Victor Musa, firing over the bar while our defenders Elijah Upson and Malachi Hardy had to make brave blocks around the same time as the visitors pushed for a way back into the game.

Williams-Barnett had other ideas, though, as he was played clean through in behind the defence and emphatically fired home his hat-trick goal in the 52nd minute. Murdoch later dived at the feet of Adewole to prevent him from netting while James had a golden chance to add his name to the scoresheet after going through with only the keeper to beat, but he delayed taking his shot and Murdoch was ultimately able to make the block.

Lacey proved a lively influence off the bench for the Red Devils and it was he who was largely responsible for turning the tide in the latter stages. After forcing a fine save from Archer and floating a free-kick over the bar, he pulled a goal back from inside the box on 77 minutes then added a second within two minutes, his effort deflecting off Archer and looping over the line with Zach Baumann on hand to make sure it went in.

Lacey should have added a third when Archer was left stranded at the side of his goal, but the United man sent a looping effort wide of the gaping net, although the visitors did make it three on 85 minutes when captain Biancheri blasted home from the penalty spot after being challenged in the box by Tye Hall. That really made things interesting in the last few minutes but despite some heavy pressure, we got blocks and headers in at key moments to withstand United’s advances and see out the win, keeping us in with a chance of progressing from the group stage with one game still to come away to Leicester City next month.

‘The lads showed brilliant character’

It was a second victory in a cup tie in the space of a few days for these players after Tuesday night’s 3-1 win in the Under-17 Premier League Cup at Norwich City, with Under-18s Coach Stuart Lewis feeling proud of his team’s efforts.

“It was an excellent spectacle for the neutral!” he told SPURSPLAY at full-time. “We always create goalscoring opportunities but I thought the lads showed brilliant character towards the end to get over the line and to get the three points. Luca has been outstanding so far this season – his goal contributions and assists have been a real positive for us all and today you could see some of the quality that he has in those moments. For an Under-16 player, I was really proud of his performance, which was a massive positive.

“We knew that United are a second year-heavy and strong team, we’re a really young team so we knew there would be moments within the game where that would probably show and that was the case in the final 15 or 20 minutes but we came through that and we won the game. It was more about being clinical in the final third and putting the game to bed at four or five, then maybe we wouldn’t have had to deal with what we did in the last 15 minutes but the lads came through that and have shown unbelievable character this week, so I’m proud of them.”