Pep Guardiola isn’t really a fan of watching Manchester City’s academy teams at the Joie Stadium. He dismissed it again recently, saying there is little to learn from playing games in front of 10 people.
City have to work with what they have though, and one of the bigger occasions is the most prestigious tournament in youth football in the FA Youth Cup. Drawing Arsenal in the fourth round was fraught with danger for Oliver Reiss and his Under-18 side as they looked to avenge their defeat to Aston Villa in last year’s final.
The task was made harder by the absence of talented youngsters that could have made a difference. Ryan McAidoo and Steph Mfuni both made their senior debut in the 10-1 win over Exeter at the weekend and played for the Under-21s on Wednesday evening instead.
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You don’t get excuses at academy level though, especially at City where Guardiola hands nothing out and expects appearances to be earned. All you can do is give it your all and you hope that the manager notices you.
It happened in front of a few people in Madrid, where City Under-19s won 4-0 in the UEFA Youth League and Guardiola was impressed enough to find out who had impressed and give them opportunities with the first team. And beating Arsenal 5-2 with players missing will certainly help the cause of everyone who turned out in blue on Friday night at the Joie.
Kaden Braithwaite, who made his senior debut last season, captained the side from the back and opened the scoring with a good free-kick to turn City’s promising start into a scoreboard lead. Tyrone Samba got a first-half double, while Christian Dunbar-McDonald scored the goal of the night with a brilliant solo effort.
Harrison Miles and Tyrone Samba controlled the midfield and Dante Headley produced an outstanding goalline clearance to prevent Arsenal scoring shortly before the visitors did pull one back. After five goals in the first half, the second was more of a damp squib but there was enough going on for Arsenal to get another consolation and Xavier Parker to add a fifth as extra gloss for the statement City’s youngsters had already made..
It doesn’t get any easier for Braithwaite and his teammates. Marc Guehi is coming to strengthen the first team for £20m in the coming days with Antoine Semenyo having already arrived this month, and the next round of the FA Youth Cup takes them to Chelsea.
All they can do is keep being noticed for the right reasons, and putting five goals past Arsenal at any level will certainly do that.
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