Oteng inspires Women’s Under-21s to victory over London City Lionesses | OneFootball

Persis Oteng netted a brace to help our Women’s Under-21s side to a 2-1 victory over London City Lionesses on Wednesday afternoon in the Professional Game Academy League.

Following a dominant first half performance, where they failed to capitalise on a number of opportunities, the Under-21s eventually broke the deadlock after the break with two goals in a six-minute spell.

Oteng showcased her striker instinct as she reacted quickest inside the box to fire home from close-range following some good work from Lucy Barraclough and Rania Oukriss down the left-hand side, with the latter's low cross picking out the forward.

Just six minutes later, the Ghana Under-19 international doubled her tally and our advantage with a powerful strike into the roof of the net after some good pressure from Oukriss saw the ball fall kindly to Oteng inside the box.

London City Lionesses capitalised on a moment of miscommunication in the backline to cut the deficit but, despite the home side pushing for an equaliser in the closing stages, we held on to claim our first three points of the 2024/25 campaign.

Speaking to First Team Coach Anton Blackwood – who was stepping in for Nick Hardy for the game – he said: “The first half was very good, we created a handful of chances but just wasn’t clinical enough to head into the break ahead. We spoke about being more aggressive going forward and committing more players in the second half, we done that and managed to be two goals up.

“A slight mix-up between two of our players gifted them a goal back into it, but I was pleased with the girls on how they stuck to the style of play and created even more chances, probably could have ended up with a few more goals.

“As a team, it’s not always about winning but more about developing, however, I think it will be a big confidence boost. In the second half, we stuck to the structure and, I think, that helped the individuals to shine even more.

“There were some good individual performances, I thought Rania was good playing in the 10, Persis scored two good goals and contributed well. The whole forward line, Mia [Endacott] and Maia [Lazaro] were constant threats, and everyone around them put in credible performances as well.”