Underperforming U's strike twice five minutes to advance

Cambridge United opened the season with a home tie against Barnet in the Carabao Cup 1st round. The 1pm kick-off was attended by over 3,500 fans, with more watching from home. Harris added debutants Callum Perry and Isaac Heath to the side with McLoughlin starting over Mpanzu. A fierce affair wasn't expected, but with Barnet starting two former Peterborough United players anything could happen.

The first half was lacklustre and felt like a friendly for the majority of the opening 45 minutes. Mistakes in possession and loose passes dominated proceedings, with only five shots on target in the game. United were better but only marginally, with seven shots and four on target. Neither team displayed crisp passing, with Barnet completing 51% and Cambridge United only completing 56%. Appere impressed in his first start of the season, but his two shots of the first half didn't trouble Cox in net.

However, the second half provided 20 minutes of entertainment. Barnet took the lead after two goal-line clearances through Tshimanga, who celebrated directly in front of the NRE. The former Posh player, who amassed 13 appearances and no goal contributions, clearly felt obliged to give it to his former rivals. The U's needed the kick up the backside to get going, and get going they did. Just three minutes later Ben Knight found space, after Callum Perry worked the ball well on the left. Knight's deflected shot trickled past Cox in goal and the U's were level.

With momentum behind them, United looked to capitalise again. Callum Perry once again pushed forward fantastically and put in an enticing cross which McConnell flicked to Appere. Appere then fizzed in a low cross across the six-yard line which debutant Isaac Heath tapped in to give the home side the lead for the first time all game. A fantastic move finished off by a good goal from the young winger, who displayed his effectiveness in the final third. A great debut by the duo on the left, which will help ease fans to the sight of no Brophy or Gibbons.

With 30 minutes left to play and the U's in the lead, Harris turned to the bench to make changes. Kaikai and Mpanzu made their first appearance of the season at the hour mark, replacing McConnell and McLoughlin before Appere made way for Lavery. The U's sat back and defended superbly for the remainder of the second half.

With time running out, Kell Watts was deemed to have fouled Kanu, but when Watts stood in front of the ball to prevent a quick free kick, the former Peterborough player threw his toys out the pram and decided to become extremely interested in Watts' shirt. Perhaps Kanu is a big fan of Watts and simply saw an insect on his collar, so decided to remove it from Watts. Kanu may have even wanted to swap shirts with such a fantastic defender. Unfortunately, both were booked with only minutes of regulation time remaining.

Barnet thought they had grabbed an equaliser through Kanu in stoppage time, but the referee deemed Kanu to have fouled Jobe just seconds before lashing the ball past Eastwood. To the NRE's frustration, Kanu wasn't given his marching orders after dramatically protesting the decision.

The U's held onto the lead and now advance into round two of the Carabao Cup and finally beat Barnet for the first time since Boxing Day 2017. Maris netted in that tie in a 1-0 League Two fixture under manager Shaun Derry. Tom Knowles remained on the bench in that tie, but in today's fixture he came on as a substitute.