In a tight game at the City Football Academy, United were clinical in the second half scoring three goals in 45 minutes after Nico O’Reilly gave us the lead at the break.
Ethan Williams and Manni Norkett scored two goals in five minutes just after the hour mark before James Nolan scored late on to give the visitors a 3-1 lead with minutes of the game remaining.
Matthew Whittingham netted an injury-time consolation goal for City but it was United who walked away with the points on the day, with Wilkinson cutting a frustrated figure after the game.
He said: “I thought in the first half we were good, we created lots of chances, we should have been more clinical.
“At half time I was quite pleased, but we knew there was a lot left to do in the game to make sure we got over the line.
“I thought in the second half we just lacked a little bit of courage, we made bad decisions, and we never recovered the momentum that we had until very late in the game.
“There’s a lot of lessons there for us. So relatively pleased at half time, but we still knew there was a lot to do and then I thought in the second half we were poor.”
City are third in the U18s Premier League standings, three points off Sunderland in top spot and have a game in hand over Liverpool who currently occupy second place.
The young Blues travel to Stoke City next Saturday (11:30 UK), with the game being shown live on CITY+ and Recast.
And Wilkinson is expecting a reaction from his players, he added: “They’ve had a little bit of criticism after the game.
“They need to take that on the chin and come back in on Monday and try work harder. They need to accept the criticism and try and right some the wrongs.
“So, an important week of training and preparation for that game [against Stoke] and then we’ll see how we respond in that one next weekend.”
CITY+ AND RECAST
You can watch exclusive City content on CITY+ and Recast.
Available for just £2.99 per month across all our digital platforms, a CITY+ subscription provides supporters with unrivalled access to new and exclusive City content.
It will allow you to watch full-match replays of all Men’s and Women’s matches, selected broadcasts of Women’s, Elite Development Squad and Academy matches and provides access to the full catalogue of City Studios documentaries.
The official Man City Recast channel offers fans flexible, pay-per-view live fixtures and on demand viewing options including match action from across the years, legend interviews, Best of Series, Man City Esports and City Studios documentaries.
