World Youth League Week 2 Round Up.
The weekend kicked off with a thriller in Portugal as a freak early own goal got the hosts ahead. Zagreb stuck at it though and got back into it with a goal from Baturina just before half time. Their minds were still in the dressing room though as Porto quickly got back in the lead right after half time. Dinamo showed their character though, levelling things again within 2 minutes. Porto quickly mounted their own response and were back in front on 51 minutes, ending a sequence of four goals in twelve minutes either side of half time! They managed to see the game out for three valuable points.
Next up was a very scrappy affair between Bayern, who are yet to get going and Marseille who are proving to be a very hard nut to crack, yet to concede in 180 minutes of football. Unfortunately for them they are also yet to score. However their rock solid defence was enough to keep them unbeaten and gain another point.
The third game was an end to end affair at White Hart Lane. Tottenham and Lyon exchanging shots in equal measure. Griffiths put Lyon ahead with a fine controlled finish that back up keeper Oluwayemi had no chance with. After a bright start from Lyon, Tottenham began to get control late in the first half culminating in a great chance for Parrot that he put wide. He followed it up a minute or so later with a header that struck the top of the post. They did get level after half time though with a fine run and angled shot from Richards. A nice individual effort. Blows were exchanged at either end before Gouiri won the game for Lyon late on with a fine free kick that found the top corner. Oluwayemi got a hand to it but could not keep it out. A great game that could have gone either way and despite starting with two defeats there was plenty of promise from Tottenham here. Lyon moved top temporarily with their second win.
It was Atalanta who took top place from Lyon. They took the game straight to Torino from the first whistle and within nine minutes a shell shocked Torino found themselves two goals down. They settled down though and fought their way back into it with a goal just before half time. Strong play from Ibrahimi that saw him end it with a lovely one-two with De Angelis before striking the ball home from the edge of the box. It stayed that way until the 68th minute when Kone was fouled for a free kick out near the corner of the penalty area. An inspired substitution saw Nivokazi come on and get on the end of a nicely clipped in free kick from Kulusevski, powering a head in off the bottom of the post with his first touch! Kulusevski, who was brilliant throughout, got himself on the score sheet late on with a great finish to round things off. Atalanta are on fire in front of goal early in the season and deservedly went top with the win.
@Flipper the Priest Mouko and Ake are unavailable for the next match with injuries
@Special4988 Oakley-Boothe is still out for one more match
Baro also out for 2 games for Porto
No other injuries this week and F.Vieira (Porto) and Millico (Torino) are back from injury and available again.
No players have suspensions for this week.
Stats to follow.