U21s: Tottenham 0 United 1

Manchester United's Under-21s produced a performance that will delight coach Warren Joyce as a hard-working display yielded all three points at Tottenham.

James Wilson fired a second-half winner by capitalising on a rare glimpse of goal and there were stirring showings from a number of individuals to keep another clean sheet, Ben Amos' eighth shut-out in 13 games at this level.

Spurs fielded a strong line-up that included ex-Red Zeki Fryers, Mousa Dembele and Nabil Bentaleb, so it was no surprise they dominated possession. With Joyce's side struggling to get anywhere near Jordan Archer's net, the first half became all about containment with Amos and Charni Ekangamene excelling.

Josh Onomah had the ball in the net in the third minute, although the whistle had long since sounded, and he forced a near-post save out of Amos soon afterwards. A nasty head injury to Guillermo Varela did not help United's cause and saw Saidy Janko switched to right-back while lone striker Wilson did more work in his own box than at the other end.

Souleymane Coulibaly turned Ekangamene and fired well wide but the visitors' Belgian centre-back made an outstanding sliding interception to halt Onomah. Amos took centre stage by thwarting Kenny McEvoy and both Ruben Lameiras and McEvoy with a smart double stop before, when the keeper was beaten by McEvoy's shot, the ball hit the side-netting.

However, there were signs of the Under-21 champions stringing some positive moves together towards the end of the first half and, although the second period followed a similar pattern, Amos was less involved other than to pluck a few crosses out of the air.

With the Reds growing in stature, captain Reece James launched a first real shot on 57 minutes, with the ball looping out via a deflection for a corner. Substitute James Weir should have scored from the set-piece but his header was matched by Archer's diving save after Louis Rowley nodded on.

Seconds later, Janko played the ball inside to Weir as United attacked again. A neat run by the midfielder allowed Wilson to gain possession on the edge of the box and he effortlessly drilled a low shot into the corner as Archer snaked out a left arm but could get nowhere near it.

The match became rather fractious with Ben Pearson producing a superb, if spiky, showing in midfield against more experienced opponents, enhancing his growing reputation. With Wilson tiring, he was only able to provide flashes of his quality and Joyce's youngsters had to really dig in.

Yet, for all their pressing, Spurs were unable to find a way through to test Amos again with Ekangamene and Paddy McNair excellent in the middle of the back four, even more so considering they are not natural defenders. Lameiras did lift a volley over the top from the edge of the box in the closing stages but Andreas Pereira also struck off target in injury time. 

So United held out for a 1-0 win that boosts the chances of reaching the semi-finals ahead of Norwich City's visit to Old Trafford on Thursday with the Reds up to sixth place in the table.

United: Amos; Varela (Weir 20), Ekangamene, Weir, James; Janko, Pearson, Rothwell, A.Pereira, Rowley (Harrop 78); Wilson. Subs not used: J.Pereira, McConnell, Rudge

Source: ManUtd Official " U21s: Spurs 0 United 1 "