City EDS earn fifth successive PL2 win with ruthless Villa display

It was the perfect start for our young boys in blue after Ryan McAidoo fired City ahead on two minutes with a well-placed finish into the bottom-right corner.

Mamad Sangare quickly added his name to the scoresheet two minutes later after the City forward tapped home Sverre Nypan’s low cross from the left.

50% off 2025/26 Home kits

Isaiah Dada-Mascoll’s hard work to return from injury was rewarded with his first-ever PL2 goal on 15 minutes.

The holding midfielder fired a goal of the month contender into the top left corner as Villa continued to struggle to find a foothold in the match.

With City overloading Villa’s third with bodies, Christian McFarlane then found space on the left to add a fourth for the perfect first half.

The hosts proved trickier to dismantle in the second half as City maintained our 4-0 lead to see us earn a fifth successive league win and move four points behind leaders Fulham with one game in hand.

WHAT HAPPENED

City have been in fine goalscoring form in recent weeks, seeing us find the back of the net 18 times in our four successive wins as we travelled to Bodymoor Heath.

And it took less than 120 seconds for Ben Wilkinson’s side to continue said form.

McAidoo bagged his 11th of the season in all competitions on two minutes after the winger opted for precision to find the back of James Wright’s net.

With City determined to deny Villa any momentum, Sangare instantly doubled our lead from close range on four minutes.

Dada-Mascoll then added a third with an unbelievable first-time finish from the edge of the Villa box, City oozing confidence with every attack.

CITY V EVERTON: GET YOUR FA YOUTH CUP TICKETS HERE 

It continued to be an eventful opening 20 minutes, with Reigan Heskey winning a penalty but unable to convert the spot kick which would have made it an impressive four before the halfway mark of the opening 45 minutes.

McFarlane did find City’s fourth on 28 minutes, the full-back showcasing his eye for goal with a clinical effort from the left-hand side of the Villa box.

With the Villans still deflated from a difficult first half, the hosts sat slightly deeper in the second, which left City with less room to manoeuvre in front of goal.

Wilkinson’s side persisted to find a fifth, with the best chances falling to Sangare and McAidoo after a brilliant counter-attack, orchestrated by Max Alleyne, saw City unfortunate not to find the back of the Villa net.

The triumph in the West Midlands maintains City’s incredible record of never losing to Villa in the PL2 as we also earn an impressive fourth successive clean sheet to climb to sixth in the standings.

HOW WE LINED UP

VILLA XI | Wright, McWilliams, Routh, Burgess, Mosquera, Kone, Mulley (Cotcher 65’), Hemmings, Burrowes, Brannigan (Jenner 65’), Lynch (Bloomfield 46’).

SUBS | Asemota, Khedr.

CITY XI | Wint, Nfonkeu (Henderson-Hall 70’) Noble, Alleyne, McFarlane, Dada-Mascoll (Braithwaite 65’), McAidoo, F. Samba (Thomas 70’), Sangare, Nypan, R. Heskey (Muir 46’)

SUBS | Vickery.

AS A RESULT

City move to sixth in the PL2 table and continue to boast the best goal difference in the league, +29, which could prove key in the final standings come the curtain call on the League Phase in just a few weeks.

UP NEXT

Wilkinson and his team now have a little over a week to prepare for our penultimate PL2 League Phase home game.

We welcome Liverpool to the Joie Stadium on Monday 16 March, with kick-off scheduled for 19:00 (UK).

The game will be available to watch live on mancity.com and the Official Man City App for fans with a CITY+ subscription.

If you’d like to attend the game, tickets will be on our website and app in due course.