Manchester City 3 (Wright 8, Henderson-Hall 26, Harrison 33) Wolves 0
Wolves under-18s suffered defeat at the City Football Academy in a tough test against reigning U18 Premier League champions Manchester City.
Richard Walker’s side were very competitive in the opening exchanges of the first half and were causing early concerns for the hosts. However, momentum shifted when City broke the deadlock after eight minutes.
Jacob Wright was the scorer after Alfie Harrison won a promising free-kick on the edge of the area which Wright curled in from 20 yards into the bottom right corner.
The hosts were determined to push on for a second goal and were rewarded after 26 minutes when they punished an unfortunate misjudged header which set free City forward Ashton Muir down the left wing.
Muir got his head up as he raced through on goal and picked out Henderson-Hall at the far post who slotted his low effort past the Wolves stopper.
The Old Gold’s response to the second goal was superb and they almost managed to halve the deficit shortly after the restart through Fabian Reynolds.
The winger picked up the ball out on the right wing, driving past numerous City players with a mazy dribble before his effort from just inside the area was deflected to take the sting out of the shot.
Wolves were unlucky to see a third goal go against them as City countered following Reynolds’ effort and were clinical at the other end.
The first chance fell to Henderson-Hall after Muir’s driven cross across the box. Henderson-Hall smashed his effort off the bar, before it fell to Harrison for the rebound who made no mistake as he volleyed past keeper Lewys Benjamin who had no chance.
Fraser Harper had the only other real effort of the first half when the ball fell to him on the edge of the area following a corner, but his effort was blocked in the end.
Half-time | Man City 3-0 Wolves
The second half began with a change for Wolves as Harper was replaced by Lennon Patterson after the Wolves midfielder received treatment following a hard tackle in the first 45 minutes.
The Old Gold put in a much more solid and positive showing in the second half and can take satisfaction in the fact that they continued to make the game tricky for the hosts despite their three-goal advantage.
City had two players booked in Rhys Thomas and Alfie Harrison respectively, when both players went down looking for a penalty, but the referee instead adjudged them to have dived following minimal contact.
The hosts did have the ball in the net once again in the second half but were denied by the offside flag to their dismay.
City sub Dunbar-McDonald was released down the right and his pass to the back post found Harrison who had just strayed offside before he was picked out.
Walker made numerous changes to try get his side back into the game with Alfie White, Tom Edozie and Dani Angel all being introduced around the 60-minute mark.
Wolves continued to attempt to break down the City defence and Angel had a sight of goal late on but his effort from 25 yards was well wide in the end.
Full-time | Manchester City 3-0 Wolves
NEXT FIVE
AFC Wulfrunians (A) 14/11 Birmingham Senior Cup
Reading (H) 25/11
Manchester United (A) 02/12
Liverpool (H) 16/12
Newcastle United (H) 06/01
TEAMS
Manchester City | Wint, Thomas, Carrington, Wright, Naylor, Gray, Henderson-Hall (Dunbar-McDonald 46), Okeke (Batty 65), Heskey (Fapetu 65), Harrison, Muir.
Subs not used | Noble, Hudson.
Wolves | Benjamin, Clarke, Carson, Rawlings (White 63), Voice, Igbinoghene, Reynolds (Angel 57), Bradbury, Salmon (Edozie 57), Harper (Patterson 46), C. McLeod.
Subs not used | Hardy.
Report by Harrison Kewley
