Skoorb
Alert Team
Well done to Jason Wilcox no his young charges. Job to be done yet but fingers crossed for the second leg.
Make a note - the second leg will be televised on ITV4 on Mondy 4th April @ 7.45pm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
City U18s will take a narrow advantage into the second leg of the FA Youth Cup semi-final after beating Arsenal 2-1 at the Academy Stadium on Friday evening.
Lukas Nmecha and Isaac Buckley grabbed the goals to secure the victory under the watchful eyes of first team players Aleks Kolarov and Kelechi Iheanacho, as well as Thierry Henry.
Jason Wilcox made two changes from the side that beat Norwich in the quarter final with Charlie Oliver and Aaron Nemane coming in for Erik Sarmiento and Manu Garcia.
It was the away side who drew first blood at the CFA when Jeff Reine-Adelaide slotted through the legs of Daniel Grimshaw in the fourth minute.
The 18-year old then pulled off a magnificent save five minutes later when he somehow managed to palm Stephy Mivididi’s close range effort onto the post before claiming the rebound.
The young Blues responded well to going behind and nearly added an equaliser in the 15th minute when Buckley was inches away from converting Nemane’s cross before the 18-year old had a goal disallowed due to an offside in the build-up.
City continued to apply the pressure and grabbed a deserved equaliser midway through the first half. Rodney Kongolo played Nmecha in and the England youth international smashed the ball past Hugo Keto with a finish former Arsenal striker Henry would be proud of.
Wilcox’s side then took the lead in the 39th minute when Nmecha turned provider for Buckley, who showed great pace to beat his marker and then deftly chip the ball over Keto to make it 2-1 to City.
The pressure continued in the second half and only a Chiori Johnson goal line clearance prevented City from further extending their lead in the 55th minute.
At the other end, Arsenal had a chance to level the score but Mavididi fired wide on the turn before the young Blues created a chance of their own.
Nemane sprinted past Krystian Bielik and forced Keto into a save before Nmecha saw his first time strike deflected narrowly past the outside of the post.
Wilcox made his first change with five minutes to play as Tom Dele-Bashiru came on to replace Brahim Diaz as City added another body in midfield to hold off the Gunners.
The 16-year old was involved in the action straight away when referee Andrew Madley turned down his penalty appeal and booked the youngster for simulation, much to the annoyance of the bumper crowd in attendance.
The full time whistle sounded shortly after the incident to ensure that City will take a slender lead into the second leg at the Emirates Stadium.
That clash will be played on Monday 4 April, 7.45pm kick off, and will be shown live on ITV4.
http://www.mcfc.co.uk
Make a note - the second leg will be televised on ITV4 on Mondy 4th April @ 7.45pm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
City U18s will take a narrow advantage into the second leg of the FA Youth Cup semi-final after beating Arsenal 2-1 at the Academy Stadium on Friday evening.
Lukas Nmecha and Isaac Buckley grabbed the goals to secure the victory under the watchful eyes of first team players Aleks Kolarov and Kelechi Iheanacho, as well as Thierry Henry.
Jason Wilcox made two changes from the side that beat Norwich in the quarter final with Charlie Oliver and Aaron Nemane coming in for Erik Sarmiento and Manu Garcia.
It was the away side who drew first blood at the CFA when Jeff Reine-Adelaide slotted through the legs of Daniel Grimshaw in the fourth minute.
The 18-year old then pulled off a magnificent save five minutes later when he somehow managed to palm Stephy Mivididi’s close range effort onto the post before claiming the rebound.
The young Blues responded well to going behind and nearly added an equaliser in the 15th minute when Buckley was inches away from converting Nemane’s cross before the 18-year old had a goal disallowed due to an offside in the build-up.
City continued to apply the pressure and grabbed a deserved equaliser midway through the first half. Rodney Kongolo played Nmecha in and the England youth international smashed the ball past Hugo Keto with a finish former Arsenal striker Henry would be proud of.
Wilcox’s side then took the lead in the 39th minute when Nmecha turned provider for Buckley, who showed great pace to beat his marker and then deftly chip the ball over Keto to make it 2-1 to City.
The pressure continued in the second half and only a Chiori Johnson goal line clearance prevented City from further extending their lead in the 55th minute.
At the other end, Arsenal had a chance to level the score but Mavididi fired wide on the turn before the young Blues created a chance of their own.
Nemane sprinted past Krystian Bielik and forced Keto into a save before Nmecha saw his first time strike deflected narrowly past the outside of the post.
Wilcox made his first change with five minutes to play as Tom Dele-Bashiru came on to replace Brahim Diaz as City added another body in midfield to hold off the Gunners.
The 16-year old was involved in the action straight away when referee Andrew Madley turned down his penalty appeal and booked the youngster for simulation, much to the annoyance of the bumper crowd in attendance.
The full time whistle sounded shortly after the incident to ensure that City will take a slender lead into the second leg at the Emirates Stadium.
That clash will be played on Monday 4 April, 7.45pm kick off, and will be shown live on ITV4.
http://www.mcfc.co.uk
