LONDON -- Chelsea's dominance of the FA Youth Cup continued with a 2-1 win against Tottenham in the semifinal first leg, but they should have finished the tie on the night.
This was the Blues' eighth-consecutive semifinal and they have won the competition in the last three seasons and in four of the last five. They are also holders of the Europa Youth League, the mini-Champions League. Spurs have a good youth set-up -- Harry Kane and Harry Winks are enough evidence of that -- but there is no one better than Chelsea in Europe at this level and the hosts were outplayed for 90 minutes in front of an enthusiastic crowd at White Hart Lane.
Spurs will be delighted to take a one-goal deficit back to Stamford Bridge on Saturday and they had goalkeeper Brandon Austin and some wasteful finishing from Chelsea to thank.
Tottenham can point to the fact that Marcus "mini-Messi" Edwards and Cameron Carter-Vickers, both eligible for this competition, played for the Under-23s on Monday instead, but Tammy Abraham, who has scored 18 goals in the Championship for loan club Bristol City, could have been playing for Chelsea.
The writing was on the wall when Mason Mount -- Chelsea's No.10, who was one the game's outstanding players -- curled a free kick onto the post from 30 yards after just six minutes and the contest quickly developed into attack against defence. It was a surprise that it took the Blues so long to open the scoring and there was an element of fortune about Reece James' header from a corner, which took a big deflection on the way in.
There was nothing lucky about Chelsea's second goal. Dujon Sterling, a speedy winger who is no relation of Manchester City's Raheem Sterling, volleyed a diagonal pass across the face of goal first-time and Ike Ugbo headed home from close range.
After the break, Spurs goalkeeper Austin, whose kicking was poor but shot-stopping was excellent, made a string of fine saves, including one that struck him in the face from Ugbo from point-blank range. His best spell came around the 75th-minute, when he produced two low stops to deny first Ugbo and then sub George McEachran, brother of former Chelsea player Josh.
Remarkably, Spurs snatched a goal when substitute Jack Roles played in Kazaiah Sterling, name-checked by Mauricio Pochettino this week, who finished low in the 87th-minute. There was still time for Chelsea to win a fortuitous penalty when Mount went down under a challenge from Tashan Oakley-Booth, but Luke McCormick hit the base of the post.
It is game on for Saturday's second leg, and Chelsea, who should have been clear, will rue their wastefulness if Spurs pull off a comeback to advance.