There was only going to be one winner in this tale of two Cities as the young Blues gave a thoroughly dominant display to smash eight past their counterparts from the West Midlands.
The excellent Brandon Barker grabbed a first half hat-trick, and in this first u18 game of 2015 City set the sparks flying with incisive, attacking play and controlled possession that left Coventry chasing shadows in the Manchester drizzle.
With the draw for the fifth round already completed, both sides were aware ahead of kick off that the reward for the victors was a home tie with Mansfield Town or Stoke City and Jason Wilcox signalled his intent to go far in the competition with a strong starting XI that had a fairly formidable look.
Five of the XI are key members of Patrick Vieira’s EDS squad while Angelino and Bersant Celina have already been named on the bench for the first team.
Pablo Maffeo, Thierry Ambrose were all called upon to make their first u18 appearances of the season after regular involvement at u21 level as City sought to continue their quest for silverware and lift a first FA Youth Cup since 2008.
City were in control right from the first whistle and were ahead while some supporters were still taking their seats.
The fantastic Barker didn’t give his opposing full back a minute’s peace in the first half and took just two minutes to make his mark on the game – threading his way easily through a defence that simply could not contain him before finishing low at the near post.
Ambrose nearly doubled the lead within 60 seconds but the keeper made a decent stop to temporarily stem the one-way traffic and the visitors thought they had found an equaliser on the ten minute mark, but the linesman had long since raised his flag to put a swift halt to the celebrations.
Instead, City went for the jugular and didn’t give their opponents a chance for respite. Celina shot narrowly wide after Barker had once again left the defence in tatters, before Ambrose made it two - applying the finishing touch to Celina’s throughball.
Minutes later it was three as Barker went on a fantastic solo run from the region of the halfway line, beating five men on his way towards goal and finding the back of the net via a deflection, although even the most hardened visitor would have been hard pressed to argue he didn’t deserve that slice of luck.
The boys in blue were rampant, and Ambrose added his second with a clever finish before Barker claimed his hat-trick with a sensational curled effort from outside the box that sailed into the top corner leaving the despairing keeper looking on helpless.
Coventry grabbed a goal back from the penalty spot but City were ruthless and Pablo Maffeo restored the four goal cushion with a wonderful first time volley after the keeper had attempted to punch Angelino’s shot clear.
Unfortunately for the Midlanders, it was only half time and more was in store after the break. Sub Javairo Dilrosun made an almost immediate impact, confounding the defenders by delaying his shot until the very last minute before finishing with aplomb past the keeper.
There was no sign of a let up either as Angelino stung the stopper’s palms with a long range effort and Manu Garcia nearly found the net before Coventry recorded a second consolation goal through Devon Kelly-Evans on the hour mark.
Although City eased off in the second half with the job long since completed, the young blues weren’t quite ready to let Coventry off the hook and Denzeil Boadu stroked home the goal his overall performance thoroughly merited – beating the keeper to a loose ball and calmly placing the ball in the back of the net.
While the last 20 minutes were understandably quieter on the scoreboard, City still found time to create more chances for the thrilled spectators. Boadu saw another effort cleared off the line, while Celina tried his luck from distance and wasn’t far off finding the right side of the post.
While the visitors were relieved to hear the final whistle blow, the majority of the crowd were disappointed to find their entertainment cut short after a mere 90 minutes.
The fifth round awaits!
