What happened...
Manchester City will face either Preston North End or Stoke City in the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup after a victory over Aston Villa at Villa Park.
Jadon Sancho‘s early equaliser and Matt Smith‘s late strike were enough to claw Lee Carsley’s side through the tie against a hard working Villa side.
City started brightly with a pair of dangerous Luke Bolton crosses almost finding an opening for the Blues. It was, however, Villa who opened the scoring as a floated free-kick was met by the head of attacking full-back Johan Abdoul.
They weren’t down on the scoreboard for long though, as Sancho collected a cut back in in the area and created enough space to squeeze his shot in at Viktor Johansson’s near post.
It was City who dominated throughout the rest of the half without ever reaching their flowing best but both Diaz and Sancho were denied by an in-form Johansson in the Villa goal.
City cranked up the pressure as the hour mark approached with Phil Foden forcing a diving save from Johansson before both Joel Latibeaudiere and Diaz had the crossbar rattling.
The introduction of Lukas Nmecha gave City a focal point in attack but the Villa defence, camped out on the edge of their own box, regularly put their bodies on the line to deny City’s best efforts.
It looked like City were going to have to be content with extra-time until Sancho found Smith in the box and the Welsh midfielder wiggled away from the defenders and fired home to send City through.
View highlights from the Youth Cup thrashing of Southampton below...
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What it means...
City will await Monday’s match between Preston North End and Stoke City to discover who they will face in the final four. City will host the first leg before travelling to their opponents for the second leg.
The other semi-final will be contested between Chelsea and the winner between Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur.
Key moment...
Matt Smith could have hit Sancho’s cross first time but his moment of composure to work the ball into a yard of space was what ensured this would finally be the effort that would send City through.
Man of the match...
Joel Latibeaudiere - City’s captain had a vital role in rallying the troops after Villa’s early goal and then remained an inspirational figure throughout. The centre-back may even have put City in the lead with a powerful header that thundered against the crossbar.
How they lined up...
Aro Muric continued in goal.
Jeremie Frimpong started at right-back with captain Joel Latibeaudiere and Ed Francis in the centre and Tyreke Wilson at left-back.
Matt Smith sat at the base of midfield behind Tom Dele-Bashiru and Phil Foden while Luke Bolton and Jadon Sancho flanked central striker Brahim Diaz.
