City edge closer to UEFA Youth League knockouts with sublime Leverkusen win

Despite a dominant first half display, all six goals came after the break in an extremely impressive showing.

Reigan Heskey gave us the lead on 48 minutes from the penalty spot, before Divine Mukasa scored his first of three a few minutes later.  

Christian McFarlane grabbed his first goal in Blue soon after, before Mukasa made it four with a low-driven shot as City continued to put on a show.

Substitute Floyd Samba added a fifth with a fantastic finish into the top-right corner before Mukasa rounded off the scoring with a composed penalty to complete his hat-trick.

The triumph means City are almost guaranteed a place in the knockout stages of the UEFA Youth League heading into the final round of fixtures.

WHAT HAPPENED

Boosted by the knowledge that a win in our final home game would put City on the brink of securing our place in the knockout stage, Ben Wilkinson’s side charged out the gates.

R. Heskey was denied by the outstretched leg of Jesper Schlich, before Mamad Sangare rattled the crossbar, all inside the opening 11 minutes.

Heskey then struck the base of the post as City continued to control possession, but couldn’t translate that dominance into goals.

It was a different story in the second half, though, and City soon made sure we wouldn’t regret those missed opportunities, which tallied 14 in the opening 45.

Heskey gave us the lead on 48 minutes from the spot after a late foot by Noah Probst caught Kian Noble inside the area, and the Blues never looked back.

We quickly doubled our lead through skipper Mukasa, who started and finished a well-worked corner routine involving Charlie Gray and Femi Fapetu, by sneaking an effort in at the near post.

And number three would follow on 64 minutes, when McFarlane went from defender to striker for his first-ever goal for the Club, a fine left-footed strike from the edge of the six-yard box.

Two minutes after the restart, Mukasa added his second and City’s fourth of the afternoon, another fine finish, this time from the opposite side of the Leverkusen box.

Our opponents looked deflated as City once again charged forward in search of more, with goal difference potentially crucial as we look to reach the knockouts.

And super substitute Samba would grab it when he stole back possession from Schlich’s kick and decided to do it all himself. The 16-year-old set himself up on his right and thumped his shot into the top right corner to make it five.

To complete the perfect second half, Mukasa then bagged his hat-trick from the penalty spot as City capped off our final home match of the group phase in style.

What it means

Victory moves City up to 10th in the UEFA Youth League table, though we’ve played one more match than the majority of teams at this stage.

The top 22 sides will qualify for the knockout stages, with the Blues currently on nine points after five matches.

Another three points in our final match guarantees our spot in the knockouts, and a point would likely also be enough.

How we lined up

CITY XI | Brits, Nfonkeu, Noble, Mfuni, McFarlane (Braithwaite 71’), Fapetu (F. Samba 58’), McAidoo, Gray (Miles 77’), Sangare (Warhurst 77’), Mukasa (C), R. Heskey (Dunbar-McDonald 77’)

SUBS | Hudson, Drake, Headley, Oboavwoduo

LEVERKUSEN XI | Schlich, Kurowski (Ermec 72’), Domnic, Probst, Turay (Papadakis 73’), Kir (Wrobel 86’), Djedovic, Datene, Massek (Gernhardt 72’), Izekor (Owen 72’), Berghoff

SUBS | Hololobov, Leuchter, Minutillo, Zidane

Up next

City’s final UEFA Youth League group stage fixtures sees us travel to Real Madrid on Wednesday 10 December.

Kick-off is set for 15:00 (UK) as we aim to reach the knockout stages.

Madrid currently sit fourth in the table with a 100% record ahead of their penultimate fixture.

Before then, we begin our Premier League International Cup campaign with a home clash against PSV Eindhoven. 

The game is slated for 19:00 (UK) kick-off on Friday 28 November, with tickets for the game available here, with the match to also be streamed live on CITY+.