West Ham United U23s lead coach Dmitri Halajko was delighted by the manner of his side’s response in the 3-2 win at Manchester United U23s on Friday night.
An enthralling Premier League 2 game saw both sides trade chances at Leigh Sports Village in an open, entertaining first half, without either being able to convert those opportunities.
Within ten minutes of the second half commencing, however, the Hammers found themselves two goals behind thanks to technically impressive finishes from Mark Helm and Anthony Elanga for the home side.
Yet moments later, West Ham’s U23s showed no shortage of offensive quality themselves when Emmanuel Longelo teed up Mipo Odubeko – up against his former club – to strike a clean low shot in off the post from 30 yards.
Emboldened by their immediate route back into the game, the U23s dominated the remainder of the contest, equalising through another exemplary Odubeko strike on 72 minutes – a curling shot into the top corner.
The Hammers weren’t done there, and as the game ticked into its final minute of added time, the Republic of Ireland youth international picked up a pass from Longelo and – from a difficult angle – slammed his hat-trick goal across the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner, prompting jubilant celebrations from teammates and coaches alike.
“We’re really pleased,” Halajko told whufc.com. “We had spells when we were fantastic tonight, playing attacking, free-flowing football in the second half that pushed us on to the winner.
“We went 2-0 down and that’s when Manchester United had their spell – they were on top at that point – but to come back and really dominate the last 25 minutes was really impressive.
“The first half was even – they had spells, we had spells. We weren’t pleased with our quality on the ball in the first half and wanted to improve that, and it probably took us until the 60th minute to do that, but as soon as we did manage to get that clicking, it really made a difference and turned the game.”
The Hammers refused to be bowed by the hosts’ goals early in the second half, with the deficit only seeming to spur them on – an aspect which Halajko attributed to West Ham’s improvement in possession.
“It knocked us out of our stride a little bit because our main plan for the second half was to be better on the ball,” Halajko admitted.
“In the first half, we’d minimised their chances but we didn’t feel we’d made the most of our time that we’d had on the ball.
“We didn’t manage to do that in probably the first ten minutes of the second half, and in that time they managed to get on top, but as soon as we managed to tidy up our passing and get our angles and our distances right, we managed to go on to dominate the rest of the game.”
Odubeko’s fine hat-trick saw him extend his record at development squad level to an impressive eight goals in six games so far this season.
Mipo's been a fantastic goalscorer for us. He’s got eight goals now in six games which is phenomenal
Dmitri Halajko
While the Hammers created plenty of chances on Friday evening, it was ultimately the 18-year-old’s efficiency in front of goal which tipped the game in his side's favour.
Halajko observed: “Mipo's been a fantastic goalscorer for us. He’s got eight goals now in six games which is phenomenal – more than a goal a game, at this level, for a lad who’s only an U18 in age.
“He’s the age group below in theory, but obviously he’s got the quality to play at this level – and got three goals really he’s got no right to score, they were all tough, tough finishes.
“That’s what he’s got – he is an absolute goalscorer. His finishing is at a top, top level, and he really brought that today.”
All those fortunate enough to be in attendance at Leigh Sports Village will testify to having witnessed the latest in a long line of fine contests between the Hammers and Red Devils at development squad level in recent seasons.
Halajko reflected: “They’ve always been really good games – really high-quality games.
“To be fair to Manchester United, they’ve got a really good playing style – really fluid, really attacking – so that’s always going to make for a good football match.
“They’re always going to test us and push us to our limits, which brings out the best in us, as it did tonight.”
Friday's three points elevate West Ham U23s into 12th place in Premier League 2 Division 1 - only just behind Leicester City U23s on goal difference.
