Rollercoaster night for former Sheffield United youngster in Europa League chaos

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A Sheffield United academy product made the headlines for the right and wrong reasons on Thursday night

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has described a former Sheffield United youngster’s eventful Europa League night as part of the learning process after a goal and a red card in the heat of Turkey.

Shirecliffe Academy product Will Lankshear scored his first goal for Spurs in the 18th minute from Brennan Johnson’s cross to cancel out Galatasaray’s sixth-minute opener.

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However, the 19-year-old forward received two bookings in quick succession after half-time to earn a maiden red card in professional football, the second for an overeager tackle on Gabriel Sara by the halfway line.

Spurs were already 3-1 down at this point after a first-half double by Victor Osimhen, but Postecoglou turned to his bench and watched Dominic Solanke score in the 69th minute to set up a grandstand finish.

It was too much of an ask for Tottenham’s 10 men, though, as Galatasaray held on to leapfrog them in the Europa League table.

“Will took his goal well, he worked hard for the team,” Postecoglou said afterwards. “Obviously he hasn’t had a lot of experience at senior football so he would have learnt a lot today. The red card, it was a bit of overenthusiasm in that moment to give away a foul, but he’ll learn from that.”

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Lankshear joined Tottenham two years ago for an initial fee of around £1 million without ever making a first team appearance for the Blades, who picked up the forward after being released by Arsenal. The transfer is understood to have included various add-ons which could earn United as much as a further £1.5 million.

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