By Fulham FC

Fulham Under-18s suffered a 3-1 defeat in a top-of-the-table clash with Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

Tom Olyott grabbed us a goal back after going two down, but a red card for Ollie Gofford just before the break and a second half Spurs strike proved too damaging for Ali Melloul's side.

We got off to the worst possible start, conceding with less than one minute on the clock. An early corner bounced awkwardly off of Bradley Slade, before being tucked home from close range by Callum Latif Olusesi. 

The lads responded excellently and created an opportunity just a couple of minutes later. Farhaan Ali-Wahid swung in an inch-perfect cross to Callum Osmand, but his header flew just over.

The visitors grabbed their second goal of the game on 20 minutes. Chibby Nwoko's attempted pass back to Samuel Amissah was misplaced and presented itself perfectly to Latif Olusesi, who smashed past Dino Kaiser to secure his brace.

We soon got ourselves back in the game, though, courtesy of an Olyott penalty. Osmand played in Gofford down the left, before the midfielder was tripped over as he tried to cut inside. Olyott made no mistake from the spot, slotting home to the 'keepers left-hand side.

Olyott scores from the spot

Our task was made harder on the stroke of half-time, with the young Whites being reduced to 10 men. Gofford's attempted block was mistimed and he slid in late on a Spurs man resulting in a red card being shown.

Spurs secured themselves some breating space on 56 minutes with a third goal. After a loss of possession in midfield, the visitors quickly countered before Kieran Morgan's first time effort from the left found the far corner.

Olyott could've got us back into the game for a second time 10 minutes later. Osmand did brilliant to charge down the right and pull the ball back to the winger, but his left-footed strike curled just wide. He's shown how dangerous he can be from those areas, so he'd have been slightly disappointed not to find the target.

An unlucky result for our Under-18s who now they turn their attention to a crucial FA Youth Cup tie against Cardiff City on Friday.

44%

Possession

56%
8

Shots

10
2

Shots On Target

5
4

Corners

5
18

Fouls

18

1

1

Cards

2

0

Fulham U18: Kaiser, Brad de Jesus, Amissah, Nsasi (Park 70'), Slade (Tabares 70'), Quashie, Nwoko (White 55'), Olyott, Gofford, Ali Wahid, Osmand (Picotto 82')

Subs: Park, White, Picotto, Gordon, Tabares

Tottenham Hotspur U18: Bloedorn, Black (Orr 71'), Chaplin, King, Logan, Ajayi, Hall, Olusesi, Adewole, Morgan, Lehane (Beggs 74')

Subs: Orr, Warren, Adelusi, Egan-Riley, Beggs