Kazaiah Sterling’s fifth-minute goal was enough to earn Tottenham Hotspur’s Under-23s a victory over Sunderland on Monday night.
The 18-year-old took advantage of hesitant goalkeeping from Sunderland’s Max Stryjek, robbing him and rolling the ball home.
Stryjek did make amends by claiming Joe Pritchard’s left-foooted shot, while his opposite number in the Tottenham goal, Paul Lopez, made a fingertip save to keep out a deflected effort from Daniel Wright.
On 33 minutes, Spurs’ Nick Tsaroulla – an Under-18 regular making his debut at this level – was fouled and Pritchard hit the crossbar from the resulting free-kick.
Sunderland had their chances, with Lopez saving from Rees Greenwood early in the second half and 17-year-old Swede Joel Asoro striking the post, while at the other end, Sterling steered a free-kick from substitute Charlie Owens into the side netting.
Under-16s midfielder Oliver Skipp was also brought off the bench late on, as Tottenham saw out a victory that lifts them out of the relegation zone in Premier League 2 and into seventh.