Manchester City’s youngsters beat Arsenal at the Joie Stadium hours after Pep Guardiola’s side had won at Wembley
With four weeks of Premier League action left in the season, Manchester City and Arsenal are neck and neck. The Gunners moved three points and one goal clear at the top of the table on Saturday, but have now played one more game in a title race that could see one of the closest finishes yet.
At youth level, the gap between the teams is more clear. City’s Under-18s thrashed Arsenal 5-2 in the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup this year, and on Saturday at the Joie Stadium the Under-21s knocked Arsenal out of the play-offs for the second straight year.
Ben Wilkinson’s side went in at the break 1-0 down and were looking at a disappointing end to a season in which they finished third in the league stage of the competition. However, they rallied and goals from Christian MacFarlane, Sverre Nypan and Ryan McAidoo saw them run out 3-1 winners.
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After moving through to the quarter-finals with a big win over a rival, City will now head to Aston Villa looking to secure a spot in the last four – where they could meet Liverpool or United. The young Blues beat Villa 4-0 recently in the league but also lost last season’s FA Youth Cup final to the same opponents and the quarter-final offers both teams the chance for revenge as well as moving them closer to a trophy.
“It will be a totally different game,” Wilkinson told club media.“I thought we were outstanding that night, and it was one of our best performances of the season. But we know how good Villa are because obviously at the end of last season we played them in the Under-18s competition, it’s a very similar team for both sides
“We know the qualities they’ve got and I’m sure next week it’ll be a very different game to what we found a few weeks back but it’s one we can look forward to now.”







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