What happened...
City made it ten matches unbeaten in the U18 Premier League with an emphatic 6-1 victory over Wolves at the City Football Academy.
Goals from Joe Hardy, Phil Foden and Will Patching in the first half put City in a commanding position after Wolves had equalised on the break.
Hardy completed his hat-trick with two clinical close range finishes early in the second half to effectively end the challenge of the visitors before Jadon Sancho’s late curler.
The ball exchanged hands a number of times in the early minutes before Luke Bolton burst past Wolves left-back Adam Osbourne and drilled a low cross for a sliding Joe Hardy to nudge home at the back post.
View highlights of the young Blues recent win over Derby below:
That settled City down and the dynamic front three of Bolton, Hardy and Ian Carlo Poveda set about pushing and pulling the Wolves defence across the pitch.
It was Wolves, however, who scored the next goal as striker Jordan Allan ran through and took the ball around Pawel Sokol before sliding into the empty net.
City weren’t fazed and continued to dominate the ball. They were rewarded with two goals in quick succession as Phil Foden beat Wolves goalkeeper Beasley at the near post before Will Patching curled a left footed effort into the top corner.
Hardy’s quick second half double sealed his first hat-trick in an already prolific season and signalled the end of the match as a contest.
City continued to create chances however with substitutes Jadon Sancho and Lorenzo Gonzalez both creating excellent chances, one of which was finished by the former as he cut in from the left.
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What it means...
Lee Carsley‘s side have 26 points from their opening ten games in the U18 Premier League and remain unbeaten.
City travel to Everton on Saturday 19 November for the latest fixture in the U18 Premier League.
Man of the match...
Will Patching – Considering his height, the 18-year-old finds it remarkably easy to breeze around opposing midfielders.
Equally adept on his left and right foot, Patching controlled the centre of the park before scoring the goal of the match.
Key moment...
Phil Foden’s typical running through the middle of the park opened up Wolves several times in the first half but it took him a while to add City’s second.
After forcing a number of saves from Beasley in the Wolves goal and having a shot blocked on the line, the England midfielder finally fired home minutes before half-time and set City on the path to victory.
How they lined up...
Pawel Sokol kept his place in goal for the second week running after Aro Muric‘s red card in the win at Newcastle United last month.
Colin Rosler and captain Joel Latibeaudiere were the central defensive partnership with Ed Francis at left-back and EDS right-back Demeaco Duhaney on the right in a reshuffled back four.
In midfield, Iker Pozo sat behind Will Patching and Phil Foden while Ian Carlo Poveda and Luke Bolton flanked the lethal Joe Hardy.
