Norwich City Under-21s faced Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s in a Premier League 2 match. Grant Hanley, who had been sidelined since April due to an Achilles injury, made his return and played nearly three-quarters of the game. Yago Alonso opened the scoring for Tottenham in the eighth minute, but Hanley quickly made his presence felt with a firm tackle on Rio Kyerematen. Despite Hanley’s efforts, Norwich found themselves trailing 2-0 after he had received a yellow card for a foul.
Norwich started to gain momentum and had their first meaningful attack in the 30th minute, but Ken Aboh’s shot went wide. They had another opportunity from a corner, but Aboh failed to convert from close range. Norwich’s Gabriel Forsyth came close to halving the deficit with a free-kick, but it hit the side-netting. Hanley was substituted in the 67th minute to applause from the fans, and shortly after, Norwich finally found the back of the net through Pedro Lima’s deflected strike. However, Tottenham quickly restored their two-goal lead with a goal from Jude Soonsup-Bell.
Norwich continued to push forward, and Finley Welch’s shot narrowly missed the target. In the 77th minute, Norwich were awarded a penalty after a handball by a Tottenham player. Aboh calmly converted the spot-kick to bring Norwich within one goal. Four minutes later, Aboh scored again, this time with a header from Gabriel Forsyth’s corner, to equalize the score. However, just when it seemed like Norwich had secured a point, Tottenham found a late winner through Will Lankshear’s strike from outside the box.
The final score was 4-3 in favor of Tottenham. Norwich’s starting lineup included Ansen, McIntosh, Forsyth, Renecke, Hanley, Adegboyega, Manning, Brooke, Welch, Aboh, and Lima. Hanley was replaced by Charlie Wilson in the 67th minute. Tottenham’s lineup consisted of Gunter, Ashcroft, Sayers, Lyons-Foster, Dorrington, Cassanova, John, Kyerematen, Lankshear, Donley, and Alonso, with Soonsup-Bell replacing Alonso in the 39th minute.
