Our under-19s fell to a 2–1 defeat against Olympiacos in the UEFA Youth League, despite a spirited display.

What happened

We started brightly and created the first chance after just ten minutes. Louie Copley’s relentless pressing forced a block on an Olympiacos defender, and the loose ball fell to Kyran Thompson, whose header drifted narrowly wide.

The game turned soon after, as Copley was shown a straight red card following a challenge on Argyrios Liatsikouras, leaving us a player down for the majority of the contest.

Olympiacos capitalised, taking the lead when Ethan Cortes punished a defensive lapse and fired home from close range. The visitors doubled their advantage before the interval, Christos Filis reacting quickest to bury a rebound from the edge of the box after Jack Porter’s initial save.

Straight after the restart, we almost halved the deficit. Harrison Dudziak’s deflected cross fell kindly to Harriman-Annous inside the six-yard box, but he couldn’t convert.

Despite being reduced to ten players, we controlled much of the second half. Thompson and Dudziak found space between the lines, while Harriman-Annous troubled the Olympiacos defence with driving runs from the left, winning a series of free-kicks and corners. 

We finally found...