Late equaliser sees City U18s settle for point at Leeds

Oliver Reiss’ side looked on course to return to winning ways after Tyrone Samba grabbed the opener just before the half hour mark with his seventh league goal of the season.

City went close to a second with Teddie Lamb hitting the crossbar but there was to be a late sting in the tail when Jack Morris headed the home side level with less than five minutes to play.

We kept pushing for a late winner but the hosts held on as we had to settle for just our second league draw of 2025/26.

WHAT HAPPENED

After a difficult 3-1 defeat to Derby, City looked hungry to return to winning ways in our trip to Leeds United. 

A scrappy opening 45 minutes saw both teams try to carve out chances, but neither keeper was seriously tested.

But that changed on 27 minutes when City found the breakthrough when the Samba brothers linked up to punish our opponents. 

Floyd played in Tyrone with a defence-splitting pass, but the latter still had work to do as he was chased down.

The 18-year-old raced into the box and then showed great composure to cut back onto his right foot and fire home the opener.

City went in search of a second with Lamb rattling Leeds’ crossbar just after the hour.

T. Samba’s sumptuous first-time strike from distance looked goal bound but was blocked at the last minute by a white shirt.

Then Finlay Gorman was denied by the outstretched hand of Leeds goalkeeper Oliver Wood as we piled on the pressure in search of the all-important second goal.

But it was Leeds who found the back of the net late on when substitute Morris headed home Callum Mills’ cross from the right to deny the young Blues all three points.

The point on the road could prove key in the race for the North title, with City remaining two points ahead of Manchester United with one game in hand over the second place side.

HOW WE LINED UP

LEEDS XI | Wood, Dudley, Philpott, Whitehead, Howard, Matykiewicz, Mensah (Njinko 68’), Pickles (Thompson 84’), Ibrovic-Fletcher (Morris 68’), Alker, Mills.

SUBS | Cook, Hamilton.  

CITY XI | Vickery, Wain (Courtman 64’), Drake, Braithwaite, Tevenan, Miles, Gorman, Holt (Headley 64’), Lamb, F. Samba, T. Samba (Whisker 75’)

SUBS | Grigg, Martin.

AS A RESULT

City move two points clear of second-place Manchester United with one game in hand still to be played for our young boys in blue.

UP NEXT

It’s another quick turnaround as our attention now turns to our Under-18 Premier League North trip to Liverpool on Saturday 7 March.

Kick-off in Merseyside is set for 11:00 (UK), with the game available to watch live on mancity.com and the Official Man City App for fans with a CITY+ subscription.