Bromley 3-3 Cambridge United (5-4 penalties): Five talking points from EFL Trophy encounter at Hayes Lane

After playing out a 3-3 draw, Cambridge United were beaten 5-4 on penalties by lower-league Bromley in the group stages of the EFL Trophy this evening.

Having fallen 2-0 behind early on, goals from Liam Bennett, Dan Barton and Emmanuel Longelo – all scoring for the club for the first time – looked to have secured a victory until a mistake in stoppage time from goalkeeper Jack Stevens handed the hosts an equaliser.

Below, the Independent has picked out five U’s talking points from the encounter.

Up in the air

With the likes of Zeno Ibsen Rossi, Michael Morrison, Kell Watts, Connor O’Riordan and Paul Digby in their ranks, the one thing that United are not lacking in central defence is height. And yet, defending set pieces – and crosses in general – is currently proving to be an Achilles’ heel.

Bromley’s second goal of the evening was a real case in point as Lewis Leigh’s floated delivery was met by an unmarked Omar Sowunmi, who headed across the face of goal for Marcus Dinanga – himself in oceans of space – to turn the ball in from close range.

Blackpool scored two identical goals from corners against the U’s last month, while Stockport County and Bristol Rovers have also found the back of the net from crosses.

It is a weakness that head coach Garry Monk – a defender that won his fair share of headers during his playing days – will be keen to address during the upcoming international break.

Another howler

Jack Stevens has had two chances to stake his claim for the number one jersey this season – and both times he has made a glaring error.

Against Queens Park Rangers he was punished for some hesitancy, while on this occasion it was his handling that left plenty to be desired.

Danny Andrew’s header back to Stevens may have bounced just in front of the goalkeeper, but he still should not have allowed the ball to squirm through his legs, leaving Olufela Olomola with the easiest goal that he will ever score in his career.

The jury is still out among many supporters when it comes to United’s other goalkeeper Vicente Reyes, but he will almost certainly be back between the posts for the trip to Mansfield Town on 14 September.

Team Goal of the Season?

There is obviously a lot of football still to be played over the coming months, but Bennett’s goal could well end up being the best team effort of the season.

Following a sustained three-minute period of pressure in which United had Bromley pinned inside their own half, they strung together a move of 15 passes – featuring seven different players – before Bennett calmly applied the finishing touch for his first Cambridge goal.

It was the slide rule pass between centre-back and full-back to release Josh Stokes from Ibsen Rossi that caught the eye, with the latter then showing good composure to cut the ball back for the goalscorer.

Dan is the man

It has been coming, hasn’t it? Barton could – and perhaps should – have already opened his goalscoring account in senior football during bright displays against Queens Park Rangers and Crawley.

But while the youngster lacked a little bit of killer instinct on those occasions, tonight there were no such issues. The 19-year-old timed his run into the box to perfection to meet Stokes’ cut back before smashing the ball beyond Sam Long for Cambridge’s equalising goal.

It capped another lively display from the academy product, who showed plenty of nice touches and also played a key role in United’s third goal of the evening.

Fingers crossed the injury that forced him off late in the contest is nothing overly serious.

The conductor

There were times this evening when Korey Smith looked like the conductor in an orchestra, such was the control that he had on proceedings.

The 33-year-old always seemed to know the right moment to slow the game down and keep possession, while also being aware of when to speed things up with an incisive forward pass – just as he did when slotting a pass through for Longelo to neatly curl in goal number three.

United made almost 600 passes tonight and Smith will have been responsible for a high percentage of those.