Report and Reaction: U21s advance to the Premier League International Cup’s final four

Rush Green Stadium, Friday, February 23, 2024, 7 p.m. GMT, Premier League International Cup: West Ham United U21s 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion U21s (AET).

West Ham United U21 defeated Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 on Friday night to secure their spot in the Premier League International Cup semi-finals.

After an exciting ninety minutes and a true struggle with the visiting Seagulls, which ended in a 1-1 draw, Steve Potts’ team needed extra time to force a winner. Lewis Orford’s late header sealed the victory.

In fact, the Hammers appeared to be about to leave after Brighton’s Cameron Peupion scored early in the half, giving the U21s plenty of work to do by halftime.
The U21s fought back admirably in the second half, but the Brighton No. 7 was sent free and scored into the bottom left corner past Joseph Anang on the sixteenth minute.
additional time was declared after Ollie Scarles’ free kick, which curled into the bottom corner with a deft left foot swish. Both teams threatened to score in the thrilling additional thirty minutes in east London.

In addition to the visitors’ chances, Orford, Scarles, and Kamarai Swyer all had near calls in extra time before the Claret and Blue team won the game’s pivotal moment.
Together with his midfield partner Patrick Kelly, who was outstanding throughout, the No. 4 headed home the game-winning goal to avoid a penalty kick. Eight minutes remained in extra time when he ran superbly to meet Junior Robinson’s cross.

West Ham United U21s: Kelly, Orford, Moore (Swyer 46), Mubama (Clayton 91), Earthy, Anang, Robinson, Laing, Casey © (Tarima 109), Luizao, Scarles (Battrum 100),
Subs: Sowunmi, Rigge, Knightbridge (GK)

Scarles 16 Orford 112 goals
Potts commends Hammers for their effort against the Seagulls.
Because of the quality of the opposition, the Premier League International Cup has presented the young Hammers with some true challenges, and their quarterfinal matchup at home against Brighton & Hove Albion was no exception.

Steve Potts, who witnessed his team rally from behind to win in extra time, was all for the challenge.

“I think we had our problems in the first half and we couldn’t hurt them enough, but I don’t think we opened them up with chances like we normally do,” the head coach said.

We were starting to play better in the second half, creating chances and scoring a good goal to equalize, so it was a good time to come in and regroup.

Reaching the 90-minute mark and refocusing was beneficial. Tottenham, in my opinion, went all out on Saturday. We did the same thing against Brighton, winning the game with a fantastic goal.

We had a conversation about it following the Tottenham match: is it possible to create a truly outstanding moment when you are extremely tired? We achieved the goal, and Lewis Orford, George Earthy, and Junior Robison displayed excellent play on the overlap.