City stage comeback win over Fulham to advance into FA Youth Cup fourth round

Despite a dominant first half by Oliver Reiss’s side, Fulham’s Archie Taylor gave the visitors the lead on 40 minutes.

Fulham were organised, and in the second half were happy to sit and defend their lead. But City’s relentless attacks couldn’t be denied.

Super substitute Christian Dunbar-McDonald levelled for City on 80 minutes.

And two goals in three minutes from Ryan McAidoo and Teddie Lamb completed a fine and deserved comeback without the need for extra time.

The victory sees us next face either Mansfield Town or Arsenal in the fourth round.

WHAT HAPPENED

The harsh conditions with a strong, blistering cold wind buffeting east Manchester made for a slightly less favourable setting at the Joie Stadium.

But it didn’t stop City from storming forward and looking the brightest.

Floyd Samba almost gave the hosts the lead on 18 minutes. Some brilliant footwork inside the box saw him evade two Fulham bodies before he poked the ball goal-bound. But it flew an inch wide of the left post.

It followed chances for Harrison Miles and Ryan McAidoo as City continued to grow in stature, but we would later regret our missed opportunities.

Just before the interval, Fulham’s Alfie White received treatment after a foul by Tyrone Samba and it allowed both teams to talk to their coaches.

The pause in play favoured the visitors, who scored from the resulting free-kick. Taylor tapped home at the back post after the initial set piece was accidentally flicked on by City midfielder Harrison Miles.

In an end-to-end finish to the half, Max Hudson denied Brodie Dair with a fantastic save before McAidoo saw his shot cleared off the line.

As soon as the second half began, City had Fulham pinned within their own half. McAidoo,  Heskey and Tyrone Samba were all denied by Fulham goalkeeper Ollie Mayer.

Our opponents often had nine black shirts in their box, making it difficult for City to find the pockets to play into or space to shoot.

As we entered the final 20 minutes, the light drizzle turned into a downpour. But City remained vigilant. And we finally found the breakthrough thanks to super sub Dunbar-McDonald.

The winger’s low shot flew through a sea of Fulham bodies and into the bottom left corner to deservedly draw Reiss’ side level.

Then, with just two minutes left of normal time, McAidoo finally fired City ahead.

The winger, who had been difficult for Fulham to deal with all game, wrong-footed the keeper with his shot.

Instead of curling his left-footed effort towards the far post, he dragged his foot through the ball and placed it into the bottom right corner to spark frenzied of celebrations.

And it wouldn’t be the last time City would celebrate our place in the fourth round.

Lamb fired his close range shot into the roof of the Fulham net in added time to complete City’s late comeback.

TEAMS

CITY XI Hudson, Headley, Drake, Braithwaite, Tevenan (Wain 88’), Miles, McAidoo, F. Samba, Lamb (Parker 90+1’), T. Samba (Dunbar-McDonald 67’), R. Heskey.

SUBS | Vickery, Obin, Courtman, Midwood.

FULHAM XI | Mayer, Benchaita, Schutter, Cooke, Taylor, Chingwaro, Evans (Lubega 60’), White, Dair (Cavell 60’), Ridgeon, Zepa.

SUBS | Bagot, Batra, Khan, Gomins, Vally.

AS A RESULT

City are through to the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup. We will face Mansfield Town or Arsenal at the Joie Stadium in January.

UP NEXT 

We face Everton in the Under-18 Premier League North in our final game of 2025 on Saturday 13 December, with kick-off slated for 11:00 (UK).

Fans with a CITY+ subscription will be able to watch the game live on mancity.com and the Official Man City App.